RealLife Sailor Moon
by sparrowflyaway
Summary: A combination of PGSM and Anime, with my friends and I as the characters we all know and love. Enjoy! Chapter 14 is now up!
1. Stephanie: Sailor Moon

Hello! This fanfiction is my adaptation of the Sailor Moon story, but with myself and my friends as the characters. Let me introduce you to them:

Meet the characters for the first chapter:

Stephanie - SM equivalent: Usagi Tsukino

Christina(That's me!) - Minako Aino

Riley – Mamoru Chiba

Holly – Naru Osaka

I will introduce the other characters as I get to the chapters where they are introduced.

I shall be using our names instead of the Sailor Moon characters'.

Note: in the interest of protecting my friends and myself (and just to make sure you don't get confused and lose track of who is who), I shall be using the equvalent characters' last names instead of our own.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars or any of the other characters in the story. I'm just having fun and writing a story about me, my friends and their friends as the Inner Scouts we all know and love.

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"Oh, no! I'm gonna be late again!" Steph yelled, running frantically after the bus that she had missed by seconds. The bus sped up a little and left Steph standing on the footpath, panting. Steph sighed as she watched the bus trundle away, then began running, following the route to school.

She began to hear laughter and the distressed cries of a cat, and slowed as she approached an alleyway, where she found that several small boys had cornered a small black cat, and were pulling its tail and poking it.

"Hey! Just what do you jerks think you're doing? Leave that poor cat alone," Steph ordered, stepping towards them. The boys looked up, and a look of fear crossed their faces.

"Let's get out of here, Ben!" one boy said, looking at a tall, dark-haired boy.

"Good idea, Aaron," Ben agreed, and the group of boys darted around Steph and ran for their lives, screaming. Steph smiled smugly.

"And don't let me catch you torturing innocent animals again!" Steph yelled after them. She felt something bump against her leg, and looked down to see the cat staggering about with two bandaids stuck on its head, forming a cross. Steph knelt down and gently picked the cat up.

"Well, aren't you a cutie! Where's your owner, little one?" she asked. The cat yowled and closed its eyes as it began clawing at the bandaids on its forehead. "Oh, you want these off? OK, just hold still..." Steph said, gently pulling the bandaids off. Steph's eyes widened as she stared at what the bandaids had been covering: a perfect gold crescent moon shape. The cat opened its eyes and stared up at Steph with something like wonder on its face, before back flipping out of her arms and landing on a nearby car. _What a strange cat,_ Steph thought before gasping and looking at her watch.

"Oh, no! Now I'm REALLY late!" she cried, forgetting the cat and running down the road. The cat stared after her.

"At last, I've found you, Stephanie Tsukino," the cat whispered.

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"Oh, man! I can't believe I have to take another one of these things home!" Steph groaned, walking down the street with some papers in her hand. The one that she was staring at was a detention slip for being late for the third time that week.

"Well, Steph, maybe if you weren't late so much, you would keep getting them," her friend Holly Osaka said, her light brown hair sparkling in the sunlight. "I gotta go, Steph, I promised Mum I'd help out at the store tonight. She's having a big sale, and there'll probably be loads of customers coming through."

"Oh, wow, really? I wish I could go try on some of the amazing jewelery in your mum's store, but knowing Mum, I'll probably get grounded for getting another one of these," Steph said, nodding at the detention slip. Holly smiled sympathetically and left. Steph flicked through the papers and found the english test that she had taken earlier in the week, and groaned again as she read her score: 49%. She had missed out on a pass by 1%. She shook her head and sighed, stuffing the papers into her bag. She stood still and thought for a moment, before fishing the test out again and screwing it up. Sighing, she tossed the test towards a bin and turned to go home. Unfortunately for her, she didn't notice a tall, red-headed boy walking across the street. The test hit him in the nose and left a stinging mark.

"Hey! Watch what you're doing with your rubbish, Meatball Head!" the boy yelled. Steph instantly regretted putting her hair up in bobble ponytails that day, and turned to yell back at the boy. Instead she began to blush as she saw that the boy was unfolding the paper.

"49%? Gee, maybe you need to study more often, Meatball Head," the boy said. Steph turned scarlet and snatched the test away.

"Shut up, Riley! You're such a baka!" Steph yelled. "So rude," she muttered, turning on her heels and storming away.

"See you tomorrow, Meatball Head!" Riley called after her, chuckling.

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"Hi, Steph! How was school?" Steph's mum called when she heard the door slam.

"OK, I guess," Steph called back, quickly dumping the test and the detention slip on the hall table and hurrying to her room. She layed down on her bed and sighed, knowing that her mother would spot them any second now and come and lecture her daughter. And sure enough, there was a hard knock on the door, and her mother entered holding them.

"What's this supposed to be, young lady?" she asked, holding up the detention slip. When Steph didn't reply, Mrs Tsukino continued, "Steph, how many times do I need to tell you this? You need to get to school on time. And as for this," she continued, pointing to the red 49 on top of the test, "I expected better from you, Stephanie Tsukino. I know your grades are getting better, but you need to try harder. I think that for the next few days, you can stay in after school and study. I'll call your teacher after dinner to ask about it. As for you, young lady, you can sit here in your bedroom and study for the rest of the day. I'll bring your dinner to you, so you can keep studying until bedtime." Steph let out a squeal of protest, but knew it was useless. Her mother left the room and Steph reluctantly pulled out her books. She tried valiantly to focus on the work for a few minutes, but was soon pulling out a comic book. Just as she was getting to an interesting part, she heard a squeak, and looked up guiltily, expecting to see her mother glaring at her. Instead she saw the cat from that morning standing on her bed staring at her.

"Oh, great, you again. What are you doing here, kitty? Go home now. Mum'll kill me if she finds a cat in my bedroom," Steph said, getting up and opening the window for the cat, who just blinked at her and sat down on her bed. Steph sighed.

"Fine, stay. But don't bother me, I've got work to do," Steph said, sitting down at her desk and reading her comic.

"Yes, I can see that," a voice said. Steph turned around and scanned the room for the source of the voice, but saw no-one except the cat.

"It's alright, don't be afraid," the voice said again. Steph stared at the cat, having seen its mouth move in time with the talking. Steph shook her head.

"Don't be silly, Steph, cats can't talk."

"I can, and I'm very pleased that I finally found you, Stephanie Tsukino. My name is Luna," the cat said, a small smile appearing on her face. Steph shrieked and fell backwards off the chair. Steph heard footsteps approaching, and the cat hid under Steph's bed just as Mrs Tsukino opened the door with a worried expression on her face.

"What happened, Steph? What's wrong?" Steph quickly scrambled back onto the chair, blushing slightly.

"Oh, nothing. I was just leaning too far sideways when I was concentrating, and fell off the chair, that's all," Steph said. Mrs Tsukino sighed and shook her head, before leaving and closing the door. The cat crept out from under Steph's bed and jumped up onto the desk, watching as Steph searched throught the papers scattered under her desk for the comic book.

"Stephanie," Luna said, poking her. Steph jumped, banging her head on the underside of the desk, and emerged, comic in hand, rubbing her head.

"Ow! What is it?" Steph asked, wincing slightly as she felt a lump growing where she had bumped her head.

"Steph, you are destined for a very special mission," Luna said, her amber eyes glowing.

"What-" Steph began, before being cut off by a scream from down the street. Luna examined Steph's expression curiously.

"What is it, Steph?"

"Didn't you hear that? Someone screamed," Steph said, walking over to her window and staring out into the darkening sky.

"I didn't hear anything, but I suppose that you hearing people in distress would be normal, seeing as how that's one of your Sailor Scout powers," Luna said curtly. Steph whipped around, the comic fluttering from her grasp, forgotten.

"A Sailor Scout? Me?"

"Do you think I'm joking? Or lying?" Luna asked, her eyes narrowing. Steph shook her head frantically.

"No, I just... You mean, I'm a Sailor Scout like V-chan?" Steph asked, her eyes wide and sparkling as she imagined stopping burglars with her favourite superhero. Luna nodded.

"Yes, Steph, like Sailor V. You, Stephanie Tsukino, are Sailor Moon, the Sailor Scout of Love and Justice. Here," Luna said, backflipping into the air, leaving a trail of silver sparks behind her. A brooch materialised and fell onto the bed with a soft thump. Steph picked the brooch up gently and examined it, fascinated. "Hold that brooch up and say, 'Moon Prism Power!'" Luna said. Steph held the brooch above her head.

"Moon Prism Power!" Steph's bedroom was suddenly flooded with pink and white light, which wove around Steph, extending the length of her hair and tying it up into a hairstyle that resembled spaghetti and meatballs. The ribbons of light then formed a white leotard, a navy blue skirt, red ribbons on her chest and lower back, red boots, elbow-length white gloves with a band of red at the elbows, round red hair gems on the buns and a tiara on her forehead. Steph twirled around and posed, before catching sight of herself in her mirror. She gasped and stared at her reflection, then turned to Luna.

"Whoa! How-? Luna, this is... This is amazing! Thanks!" Sailor Moon said, turning back to the mirror and examining her outfit. Just then, another scream reached her ears, and she turned, frowning.

"There's that screaming again. Should we go check it out?" Sailor Moon asked, looking at Luna. Luna nodded, and the two jumped silently out the open window and began running up the street.

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"Help!! Somebody please help me!!" Holly screamed, writhing in the grip of the creature that had been disguised as her mother. Holly looked around frantically at the people scattered lifelessly around her mother's jewellery store, wondering if they were alright. The creature sent a bolt of pain shooting through Holly, causing her to scream again, this time in agony.

"Hey! Freako! Stop right there!" a voice shouted.

"It's called a Youma, Sailor Moon," another voice whispered.

"Oh, sorry," said the first one. The youma turned, and Holly caught sight of a figure standing in the doorway.

"How dare you attack these beautiful ladies! You're going to pay! I am Sailor Moon, the Sailor Scout of Love and Justice! And in the name of the Moon, I shall punish you!" Sailor Moon said, stepping into the light. The youma chuckled and dropped Holly, before cracking its knuckles and stepping forward. It then picked up a large display cabinet and threw it at Sailor Moon, who shrieked and ducked behind a pillar. A split second later, the cabinet hit the sliding doors and exploded, sending shards of glass and wood flying everywhere. Luna peeked out from behind another display cabinet.

"Sailor Moon! Throw your tiara and shout, 'Moon Tiara Magic!'" Luna whispered, before ducking back behind the cabinet. Sailor Moon nodded and pulled off her tiara, glancing around the pillar to find her target staring her in the face. The youma grabbed Sailor Moon's arms and lifted her off the ground, the tiara clattering to the floor. Sailor Moon yelled in surprise and began writhing under the youma's grip, but quickly felt her strength begin to fade as the youma drained her energy. Suddenly, a yellow beam of light hit the youma in the back, and it shrieked in pain. Next second, Sailor Moon found herself on the ground beside her tiara, which she grabbed before scrambling behind the pillar again.

"Don't give up, Sailor Moon! You can beat this creep!" a voice called from the rafters. Sailor Moon looked up to see a figure framed against the full moon. Sailor Moon felt a jolt of excitement coarse through her stomach as she recognised the figure.

"Sailor V?!?" Sailor Moon shrieked, her eyes widening at the sight of her hero. Sailor V nodded and pointed at the youma, and another yellow beam of light flew across the room, striking the youma in the face and throwing it backwards.

"Now get rid of it, Sailor Moon!" Sailor V called. Sailor Moon nodded and held up her tiara, which transformed into a glowing disc of light.

"Moon... Tiara... Magic!" Sailor Moon shouted, throwing the tiara at the youma, which shrieked and exploded into dust. Sailor Moon sighed and turned to find Sailor V standing in front of her.

"Well done, Sailor Moon. You did quite well for your first fight. It's nice to finally have someone to help with youma," Sailor V said, making a V for Victory sign. Sailor Moon smiled.

"Thanks, Sailor V," Sailor Moon said. Sailor V nodded and jumped back up into the rafters, then jumped out an open window and dissappeared. Sailor Moon frowned.

"Sailor V looks really familiar, but I can't figure out why," she said. Her eyes widened as she remembered Holly, and turned around to find her standing in the middle of the room, gaping at her rescuer.

"You alright?" Sailor Moon asked. Holly nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for rescuing me, Sailor Moon," she said. Sailor Moon nodded and took Luna into her arms, before running out the door. Holly stared after her in wonder.

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"Wow, that was awesome!" Steph said, slumping onto her bed. Luna smiled and nodded.

"You did well, Steph. Just remember that your enemy will very rarely wait until you're ready before attacking you," Luna said. Steph nodded slowly, her mind drifting back to her hero.

"I can't believe I actually met Sailor V!!" Steph squealed, pulling on her pyjamas and scrambling into bed. Luna nodded and curled up on the end of the bed, and the two drifted off to sleep.

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And on the other side of town, Sailor V leapt onto the fence of a house with the name "C. Aino" on the gate and let her Senshi outfit fade into a black top with a pink top underneath, and pink-and-black tracksuit pants. She jumped down into the yard, pulled out a key and opened the front door, smiling as she felt the warmth in the house. She shut the door and walked to the pantry, pulling out a block of chocolate and opening it. Behind her, a white cat with a gold crescent moon on its forehead leapt up onto the bench.

"Hey Artemis," she said, petting the cat.

"How did it go, Christina?" Artemis said.

"Yeah, pretty good. I'm not fighting alone anymore. Sailor Moon showed up today," Christina said, breaking off a row of chocolate and popping a piece in her mouth. Artemis nodded slowly.

"I guess that means that Luna's back," Artemis said, staring absently out the window. Christina nodded in agreement.

"Maybe now we'll be able to find the Princess and the other scouts," Christina said, looking out the window for a moment, before grabbing her Gameboy and switching it on. Artemis glanced at her and smiled as she settled onto the couch playing the Sailor V game that Artemis had given her. Artemis jumped from the bench to the couch, and settled himself behind Christina to watch her shoot a virtual youma with a virtual beam of yellow light.

"Yeah! I got it!" Christina yelled, punching the air, before quickly returning her fingers to the controls and shooting another youma.

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Author's notes: I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! Stay tuned!


	2. Bonnie: Sailor Mercury

Hello! There are several people who make their appearances in this chapter:

Bonnie – SM Equivalent: Ami Mizuno

Dee – Rei Hino

Phoenix – Makoto Kino

Enjoy!

Disclaimer:

**Sparrowflyaway: **Oh, what a pretty lamp! Urgh, there's a nasty smear on the side. Let's give it a polish... *poof*

**Genie:** Greetings, I am the Genie of-

**Sparrowflyaway:** ooh, a Genie! Do I get three wishes?

**Genie:** well...

**Sparrowflyaway: **OK, my first wish is for a lifetime supply of chocolate, my second wish is for a Sailor Venus costume, and my third is for the rights to Sailor Moon.

**Genie: **Um, sorry, but you'll have to work hard for a lifetime supply of chocolate, you'll have to make the Sailor Venus costume yourself or get your parents to buy you one, and your third wish, for you to own the rights to Sailor Moon, well, that's never going to happen.

**Sparrowflyaway: **what do you mean? You're a genie! Can't you just click your fingers and make it happen?

**Genie:** I've been trying to tell you. I'm the Genie of Good Advice, and my job is not to grant wishes, but to give you advice as to how you can make your wishes come true for yourself.

**Sparrowflyaway:** awww! Were's the fun in having to work and beg for things? That stinks.

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"Luna, what are we doing here?" Steph asked, standing outside the bowling alley.

"I told you already, Steph, we're going to the Secret Base," Luna replied curtly from her position on Steph's shoulder.

"The Base is in the bowling alley?" Steph asked, glancing through the glass doors at the bowlers inside.

"No, Steph, it's not in the bowling alley. It's in there," Luna said, nodding towards a door in the brick wall of the ice-creamery next to the bowling alley.

"Through there? How are we supposed to get in there? It's all bricked up," Steph said, opening the door to reveal a brick wall. Luna smiled.

"Try focusing on your brooch before opening the door, Steph," Luna whispered, her amber eyes twinkling. Steph closed the door and focused her mind on her brooch, then opened the door again to reveal a set of stairs leading downwards. Steph stepped through the door and shut it behind her, then descended the staris to find a brightly-coloured room. The ceiling was silver, the carpet on the floor was pink, and the walls were all painted different colours. The wall that the stairs ended at was orange, the wall to the left was blue, the wall to the right was green, and the wall opposite the stairs was red. Steph went and sat down on the white couch in the middle of the room and looked around, smiling happily.

"Do you like it, Steph?" Luna asked, jumping onto the couch beside Steph. Steph smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, this is awesome!" Steph said, spotting a small hatch in the green wall. She got up and opened it to find a small box with seven holes in it. "Hey, what's this for?" Steph asked.

"Well, one of the benefits of having our Secret Base situated underneath an ice-creamery is that we get free ice-cream," Luna said, smiling. Steph grinned and took a copy of the ice-creamery's menu from a small silver table next to the hatch.

"How do I order, Luna?" Steph asked, turning to her feline friend. Luna jumped onto the silver table and opened another hatch, revealing a small, sphere-like michrophone. Steph seized it and began ordering flavours. Her ice-cream cone arrived, and she sat down in the pink chair at a large white table. Steph licked her ice-cream and examined the gold crescent moon in the middle of the table.

"Steph, we need to talk about your mission," Luna said, jumping onto the table.

"Mission? What mission?" Steph asked, before taking a big bite of chocolate ice-cream.

"Your mission as a Sailor Scout. We need to find our Princess, the Moon Princess. We also need to find her Imperium Silver Crystal, and prevent the Negaverse from getting it," Luna said.

"Negaverse?" Steph said, her eyes widening. Luna nodded.

"Yes, the Negaverse. They're the ones who sent that youma last night," Luna said curtly. Steph frowned.

"They sound like evil jerks to me," Steph glowered.

"Of course they're evil, Stephanie! They're attacking innocent people and stealing their energy! I'm not exactly sure what they need human energy for, but I'm working together with Central Control to find out," Luna said.

"Central Control?" Steph asked. Luna only nodded and jumped off the table. She went over to a silver computer and turned it on, then picked up a microphone headset and put it on.

"Please enter voice identification passcode," an electronic voice said.

"The Moon and the Kitty are together once more," Luna said.

"Hello Luna. So I see that you have found Sailor Moon," the voice said.

"Yes, I found her. She is rather silly and slow to get going," Steph let out a noise of protest at that, "But she is a very good fighter, and she managed to defeat the youma," Luna finished, glancing at Steph.

"With a little help from V, you mean," the voice said. Luna faltered.

"Well... yes, but Sailor Moon still did very well, considering it was her very first youma," Luna said.

"Yes, she did. But now, Luna, you need to locate the other Scouts. I have a feeling that Sailor Mercury will be the next to awaken, so keep an eye out for her," the voice said, the computer screen changing to display Mercury's profile details. Luna pulled the headset off and placed it down, turning to an incredulous Steph.

"There's a Sailor Mercury too?" Steph whispered, the remains of her ice-cream dripping onto the table. Luna smiled and nodded.

"Yes. Sailor Mercury is the Sailor Scout of Water and Wisdom. She has the highest IQ of all the Sailor Scouts. She is, quite literally, a genius," Luna said, reading from the information on the computer screen. Steph threw her melted ice-cream into a small bin by the wall and walked over to the computer screen, staring at the picture of the blue-haired Scout on the screen.

"Sailor Mercury... She looks a little like my friend Bonnie Mizuno," Steph said, before gasping. "Oh no! I forgot! I was supposed to go to Bonnie's beach party today!" Steph turned and ran up the stairs, leaving Luna sitting at the computer. Luna stared after her for a moment, before turning back to the computer and typing, 'Bonnie Mizuno(?)'. Luna saved the changes, then switched the computer off and ran after Steph.

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"Hey Bonnie! Sorry I'm late, I had.... things to do," Steph said, smiling at her blonde-haired friend. Bonnie turned away from the cd player to smile at Steph

"hey, Steph, good to see you. Help yourself to the snacks," Bonnie said, nodding at a table with multiple tubs and trays on it. Steph grinned and ran across the sand to the table, where she prised open tubs to find biscuits, cake, lollies... She finally found a tub of chocolate eclairs and took one eagerly, then went to seal the tub again, but found that the lid would not go back on.

"Hey, Bonnie? The lid won't go back on this tub," Steph called. Bonnie walked over to the table and looked at the tub, a grin spreading over her face.

"It's upside down, genius," Bonnie said, smiling and shaking her head. Steph looked at the lid and blushed, realising that Bonnie was right; she had been trying to put the lid on upside down. She quickly flipped the lid over and closed the tub, then picked up her chocolate eclair and a can of lemonade and sat down in a shady chair.

"Hey Stephy, what'cha doing?" a cheerful voice called, and Steph looked up to see her cousin Christina Aino walking towards her. With her were two of Steph's good friends, Dee Hino and Phoenix Kino. Steph smiled and waved at them.

"Hi, guys, how are you?"

"I'm totally exhausted, Stephy. I barely got any sleep last night," Christina said, thinking about the Youma battle.

"Yeah, me too. Last night was pretty busy for me," Steph said.

"Really? I didn't think reading comics would be tiring," Christina said teasingly. Steph blushed a little and sipped her lemonade.

"Hey, did you guys hear? A Youma attacked Holly's mum's store last night," Phoenix said. Both Steph and Christina pretended to look surprised, while Dee's look of surprise was real.

"Really? What happened?" Steph asked, hoping that she looked curious.

"Holly said that the youma was disguised as her mum, and it drained everyone's energy. It was going to drain Holly too, except someone called Sailor Moon turned up, and she and Sailor V defeated the youma," Phoenix said.

"Really? So Sailor V and Sailor Moon are working together?" Dee asked.

"Seems that way," Phoenix said, not noticing the akward expressions on Steph and Christina's faces. Suddenly, a scream split the air, and the four girls whirled around to see a youma very like the one at the jewellery store standing in the middle of the beach. With a surge of horror, the girls realised that it had Bonnie held tightly in its fist.

"Help!!!" Bonnie yelled, fighting to get out.

"We've got to get out of here!" Steph and Christina said simultaneously.

"But... what about Bonnie?" Dee asked, looking worriedly at their friend.

"Do you want to end up like her?!?" Phoenix asked, grabbing Dee's wrist and pulling her away. Steph and Christina looked at each other, before diving behind some bushes.

"Chrissy, you stay here. I'm going to get help," Steph said, before standing and walking towards the youma. Christina gripped her transformation pen and transformed into Sailor V with a flash of golden light, prepared to protect her cousin. She quickly found out that Steph didn't need as much protection as she thought, as she heard Steph shout,

"Moon Prism Power!" Sailor V gaped as she watched Steph transform into Sailor Moon.

"S-Stephy... Stephy is Sailor Moon?" Sailor V whispered, staring at her cousin as she whirled around and posed, before removing her tiara and throwing it at the youma. The tiara sliced the youma's arm, and it roared and dropped Bonnie onto the sand. Bonnie scrambled away from the youma as it reached out and attempting to grab Sailor Moon, who was dodging away and shrieking every time it came close to catching her. She soon began to tire, and the youma grabbed her and threw her down the beach. Bonnie clambered to her feet and yelled,

"Hey you Stupid Baka, leave her alone!" Sailor Moon looked at Bonnie and gasped at the blue Mercury symbol glowing on her forehead.

"Bonnie..." Sailor Moon whispered, staring at her friend. Suddenly, Luna jumped out of some nearby bushes and tossed a small gold-and-blue pen into Bonnie's lap.

"Shout 'Mercury Power,' Bonnie!" Luna said. Bonnie stared from Luna to the pen and back again, then held the pen up.

"Mercury Power!" Blue ribbons of light shot out of the pen, making her hair short and blue, and forming a white leotard, dark blue skirt, collar and boots, white gloves similar to Sailor Moon's except with blue bands instead of red, light blue ribbons on her chest and lower back, and a golden tiara with a blue gem on her forehead. Bonnie twirled around and posed.

"Only a Baka like you would ruin a party! I'm Sailor Mercury! And in the name of Mercury, I shall punish you!" she shouted, glaring at the youma. The Youma grabbed the snacks grabbed the snacks table, throwing it wildly at Sailor Mercury. Sailor Mercury ducked, and the table flew across the beach and smacked into Sailor V, who was still crouched behind the bushes, shocked to find that two of her friends were Sailor Scouts. Sailor V was thrown backwards, detransforming as she passed out. Luna, oblivious to this, shouted,

"Sailor Mercury! Use your Mercury Bubbles Blast!" Mercury nodded and held her hand close together, forming a large blue bubble between her hands.

"Mercury Bubbles Blast!" she shouted, releasing the bubble and covering the beach in a thick blanket of fog.

"Hey, where's she go?" the youma asked stupidly, unable to see anything except whiteness. Sailor Moon scrambled to her feet as she saw a figure looming towards her in the fog, but found a gloved hand grabbing her wrist and helping her up as Sailor Mercury's face appeared through the fog. The two Scouts smiled at each other. Sailor Moon then let out a gasp of surprise as a dark-red hand grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off the ground. She shrieked and twisted in the youma's grip, her hands pinned to her sides. Suddenly, a small red object whooshed past her ear and embedded itself in the youma's wrist. The youma roared in pain ad dropped Sailor Moon, who jumped to her feet and ran to Sailor Mercury's side, staring at the object that the youma was tugging at: a red rose.

"Finish it off, Sailor Moon!" a voice called. Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury looked up to see a tall figure perched in nearby tree. He wore a black tuxedo, cape, top hat gloves and shoes, a white mask, and was holding a rose very like the one embedded in the Youma's wrist. Sailor Moon nodded and took off her tiara.

"Moon Tiara Magic!" she shouted, throwing the tiara at the dark form of the youma, which shrieked and exploded into dust. Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury high-fived each other and looked around at the snack food scattered all over the beach.

"Oh, man! Now all the food's ruined!" Sailor Moon complained.

"Well done, Sailor Moon," the black-clad figure said.

"Wait, who are you?" Sailor Moon asked, staring at the figure. The figure looked at her for a moment, before saying,

"Tuxedo Mask."

"Well then, thank-you, Tuxedo Mask, for saving me," Sailor Moon said. Tuxedo Mask nodded to the two Sailor Scouts, then jumped out of the tree and ran off.

"Tuxedo Mask... He looks kinda cute," Sailor Moon said, smiling. Sailor Mercury bent down and picked up a sandwich.

"Now these really are _sand-_wiches," she joked as some sand fell out of the sandwich.

"Yeah, so much for the party," Sailor Moon moaned, looking around. She shrieked when she saw the snacks table lying upside down on top of the bushes where she had told Christina to hide. She ran over, grabbed the table and threw it aside to reveal Christina sprawled unconscious beneath it. Sailor Moon detransformed and gently shook Christina's shoulders.

"Come on, Chrissy, wake up!" Steph pleaded. Sailor Mercury let her outfit fade, staring at Steph.

"You're Sailor Moon?" Bonnie whispered. Steph turned to look at her and nodded. They heard a soft groan, and turned to find Christina blinking slowly at them.

"S-Stephy? W-where's the youma?" Christina whispered. Steph smiled at her cousin.

"It's OK, Christina, Sailor Moon and another Scout called Sailor Mercury showed up and got rid of it," Bonnie said.

"And this other guy called Tuxedo Mask helped too, Bonnie," Steph said. Christina nodded slowly and got to her feet.

"Are you OK, Christina?" Bonnie asked. Christina smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You OK? I got so worried when I saw that the youma had caught you," Christina smiled.

"Yeah I know. It was pretty freaky, but I'm OK," Bonnie said.

"I guess this means the party's over, huh," Steph said looking around at the beach again. Christina clutched her head and staggered, falling into Bonnie's arms.

"Whoa, I feel kinda dizzy..." Christina said, sitting down on the sand. Suddenly her eyes widened, and she looked around the beach frantically.

"Where'd Dee and Phoenix go?" she asked. As if in answer to her question the two missing girls wandered cautiously back towards them.

"Is it gone?" Dee asked, looking around. Steph nodded.

"Yeah, Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury and Tuxedo Mask defeated it," she said.

"Sailor Mercury? Tuxedo Mask? Who're they?" Phoenix asked, her eyes widening.

"Sailor Mercury is another Sailor Scout. Tuxedo Mask, well, I'm not really sure who he is, but he's this tall guy wearing a tuxedo and a mask," Bonnie said.

"Cool, so there's another Sailor Scout now. That's three, isn't it?" Dee asked. Steph, Bonnie and Christina nodded.

"It's too bad we can't eat the party food now," Christina said, looking around at the food littering the beach.

"Yeah, and I'm hungry. Who votes for McDonalds?" Steph said. Four hands went up, and all five girls smiled.


	3. Dee: Sailor Mars

Chapter Three! Huzzah! Sorry it's taken so long.

Disclaimer:

Fire, Ice, Love and Light,

Thunder and Lightning, they're ready to fight,

Fighting evil and saving their home,

but Sailor Moon Rights I do not own.

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"Where's Steph? She's supposed to be meeting us here, isn't she?" Bonnie asked, staring down the street. Luna nodded.

"Yes, she's coming, but she had to help her Mum get things organised for an afternoon tea that her parents are having at her house," Luna replied. After a few minutes, Luna said,

"Well, I'm sure Steph will know that we're waiting for her in the base. Let's go inside."

"Luna, I get that this is the entrance to the secret base, but how am I supposed to get in?" Bonnie asked, staring at the door.

"Concentrate on your transformation pen, Bonnie," Luna replied, looking around. Bonnie took out her transformation pen and closed her eyes, then pulled the door open and went down the stairs. Luna shut the door and followed Bonnie down to the secret base, where she smiled as she watched Bonnie looking around the room.

"Would you like some ice-cream, Bonnie?" Luna asked, going over to the hatch in the green wall. Bonnie nodded, and was soon settled in the blue chair at the table, tracing the crescent moon with her finger and happily eating a scoop of caramel ice-cream. Luna jumped onto the table and did a backflip, the trail of silver sparks merging to form a glass of water, which landed on the table in front of Bonnie. Bonnie looked curiously at the glass.

"What's this for?" she asked, finishing her ice-cream.

"Bonnie, as the Scout of Water, you have control over Water and Ice, and there are certain abilities that you can use whether you're in civilian form or in Scout form. This is for you to practice those abilities on," Luna said. Bonnie picked up the glass of water and looked at it.

"OK, so what do I do?" Bonnie asked, placing the glass back on the table. Luna smiled.

"Well, to start off, try gently rubbing your finger and thumb together. There should be a cold spot on your fingertip about the size of a pinhead," Luna said. Bonnie did as she was told, and winced as she felt the icy-cold dot on her finger.

"OK, I found it, now what?" Bonnie asked.

"Try pointing it at the glass and sending a wave of energy to that spot on your finger," Luna said, smiling. Bonnie pointed her finger at the glass, but nothing happened. She rubbed the spot gently to check if it was still cold, then tried again, with the same results.

"Don't rush it, Bonnie. Close your eyes and imagine yourself travelling down your arm to that spot, then try again," Luna said gently. Bonnie nodded and closed her eyes, then, with her eyes still shut, pointed at the glass. A thin, wispy stream of coldness shot out of her finger, and the water in the glass froze with a snap. Bonnie opened her eyes and stared at the glass, then looked at Luna, who was smiling at her proudly.

"That's it, well done! With practice, you shouldn't need to close your eyes and travel down your arm, it should just come naturally. But you did well for your first time," Luna said, her eyes twinkling happily. Bonnie stared at the ice in wonder, then looked at Luna and smiled.

"This is fun! What else can I do?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, we could try defrosting it," Luna said. Bonnie nodded eagerly. "OK, well, basically you do what you did to freeze it, but when you're pointing at the glass, you want to take the energy away from it instead of putting the energy into it." Bonnie closed her eyes and pointed at the glass, which trembled slightly for a moment before defrosting with a splosh. Bonnie opened her eyes and smiled.

"Nice work, Bonnie! Shall we try something a little harder this time?" Luna asked.

"Sure!" Bonnie replied, encouraged by her successes so far.

"Well, alright. Try focusing our mind and lifting the water out of the glass and into the air, Bonnie," Luna said. Bonnie's eyes widened.

"You mean, levitate it?" Bonnie asked. Luna chuckled before replying,

"Yes, I suppose it is a lot like levitation. But you're only able to levitate water and ice. Give it a try."

"OK," Bonnie said, sounding a little sceptical. She closed her eyes and thought about the water, and the funny, ripply shapes it would make if it were floating in the air. The water in the glass began to ripple, and then several drops separated from the water and floated above the glass. These drops were quickly joined by more, which merged into a large, formless blob of water in the air. The blob got bigger and bigger, until all the water that was in the glass was now floating above it. Bonnie slowly opened her eyes and gasped, watching the blob quiver and float in the air.

"Excellent, Bonnie! Now try freezing it while it's in the air," Luna said. Bonnie focused on the water and pointed at it, but just as a stream of cold was flowing out of her finger, the water collapsed and splashed onto the table, getting both Bonnie and Luna wet. Luna sighed and looked at the puddle at her feet.

"What happened, Bonnie?" Luna asked gently. Bonnie brushed her wet hair out of her eyes and frowned.

"I dunno, I lost control of the water when I was trying to freeze it," Bonnie said.

"That's alright, Bonnie. It's quite difficult to do both things at once. Don't worry, it'll come," Luna said. Bonnie squeezed water out of her white jumper and looked at the water all over the table. She sighed and closed her eyes, and the water slowly reformed into a blob, which drifted back into the glass and settled there with a splosh.

"Wow, Bonnie, that's amazing! How'd you do that?" a voice asked. Bonnie and Luna looked up to see Steph gaping at the water.

"I've started teaching Bonnie to control her civilian abilities," Luna said. "Why are you so late today, Steph?" Steph sat down in the pink seat and sighed.

"I just ran into that jerk Riley again," Steph glowered, thinking about the confrontation she had had with the annoying redhead.

________________________________________________________________________________

"_Where could Bonnie and Luna have gone? They said they'd wait for me here," Steph said, standing outside the bowling alley and looking around. "I know I'm a little late, but it's not like them to be later than I am, especially Luna. Maybe they've already gone inside..."_

"_Talking to yourself, Meatball Head? That's the first sign of madness, you know," a teasing voice said. Steph whipped around to see Riley leaning against the wall of the bowling alley._

"_Oh, it's _you_. What do you want?" Steph said, glaring at him. Riley chuckled._

"_I just came to watch," Riley said, grinning._

"_Watch? What are you watching?" Steph asked, racking her brains. There wasn't a tournament on at the bowling alley, was there? Riley's grin grew wider._

"_Your descent into madness, of course!" Riley said, grinning cheekily. Steph's eyes blazed, and she screamed in anger and slapped him hard across the face, before spinning on her heel and storming off around the corner. A few minutes later, she peeked back around the corner to see that Riley was now inside the bowling alley. She was rather pleased to se that one side of his face was now bright red. She sighed and darted through the door to the secret base._

________________________________________________________________________________

"Forget about him, Steph, he's a hobo," Bonnie said, smiling at her friend. Steph sighed.

"Yeah, he is. I just wish he'd grow up," Steph said, shaking her head. Then she brightened and said, "Bonnie, do you think you could show me some more tricks with water?" Bonnie smiled and nodded, before levitating the water out of the glass again. This time, when she pointed her finger at the water, it froze, and the chunk of ice clattered onto the table. Bonnie tried to pick it up normally, and Steph laughed as it kept slipping out of Bonnie's fingers.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Hi, Artemis, I've got big news!" Christina said, bursting into the loungeroom and jolting Artemis awake. Artemis uncurled and stretched out on the couch.

"Oh, hello, Christina, how was the party?" Artemis asked.

"Sailor Mercury showed up today, like you said, but guess who she is? Bonnie! Bonnie is Sailor Mercury!" Christina said excitedly. Artemis stared at her.

"Bonnie? Bonnie Mizuno? She's Sailor Mercury?" he gaped. Christina nodded fiercely.

"And that's not all. I also found out that my cousin Steph is Sailor Moon!" Christina said, her excitement growing. Artemis' eyes grew to the size of tennis balls.

"Stephanie Tsukino?" Artemis asked, stunned.

"Yeah, there was a Youma at Bonnie's beach party, and Steph told me to hide and that she was going for help, then she started marching across the sand towards the youma. I transformed so that I could protect her, but then she transformed, and I was so shocked that I completely lost track of what I was doing, and I was just sitting there watching. The youma dropped Bonnie, then went for Sailor Moon, and it caught her and threw her away down the beach. You should have seen the look on Bonnie's face, she was so furious, she looked like she wanted to throttle the youma! Then the Mercury symbol appeared on her forehead, cat who looked like a black version of you – I'm assuming it was Luna – gave her a transformation pen, and she transformed. The youma grabbed the snacks table and threw it, and," here Christina paused and blushed, "it hit me and knocked me out. Next thing I know, Steph and Bonnie were standing there, and there was snack food and Youma Dust all over the beach. Steph and Bonnie told me that Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury had showed up, so they obviously don't know that I'm V, or they would have told me that they had transformed into them. But anyway, they also said that Tuxedo Mask helped too," Christina finished. Artemis looked puzzled.

"Tuxedo Mask? What's he doing interfering with Scout business?" Artemis wondered.

"I dunno. I haven't seen him around for a couple of weeks, and back then he was robbing jewellery stores. Although I guess I do have to thank him," Christina said, grinning. "It's because of him that I'm so famous!" Artemis chuckled at Christina's pleasure, then frowned again.

"But he's now involved in Scout business. What's he up to? You'd better be careful around him, Christina." Christina nodded slowly.

"Which Scout do you think will be next to appear, Artemis?" Christina asked. Artemis thought for a moment, before replying,

"I think that the most likely Scout to appear next would be Mars. She was your second in command under the Princess," Artemis said.

"Maybe she's another one of my friends, and we just don't know it yet," Christina remarked. Artemis stared at her for a moment.

"That's actually a very distinct possibility, Christina. You should get all your other friends over here. And while you're at it, get Steph and Bonnie over too. I'd like to meet the newest Scouts," Artemis said. Christina opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it.

"OK, I'll call them. I'll say that since the beach party got ruined, I'm inviting them over to continue it here," Christina said, pulling out her fuzzy orange phone book. Artemis smiled as he watched Christina pick up the phone, then he jumped off the couch and went into the closet, where he opened a secret door in the back and switched on the silver computer behind the door. Artemis took a microphone headset from beside the computer and pulled it on as he waited for the computer to boot up. He listened, and could just hear Christina saying a telephone number aloud as she pressed the buttons on the phone.

________________________________________________________________________________

Steph heard a buzzing sound from inside her bag and jumped, then pulled out her flashing phone.

"Hello? ...Oh, hi, Chrissy! What's up? … oh, really? Cool! I'd love to go! ...Oh, really? Well, she's right here. Hang on a sec, I'll just ask her," Steph said, before covering the mouthpiece of her phone and turning to Bonnie.

"Chrissy thought that since your beach party got ruined, we could continue it at her house, and she was wondering if you'd like to go," Steph said. Bonnie let the water fall back into the glass with a splash and smiled.

"Sounds good!" she said. Steph smiled back, then returned the phone to her ear.

"Chrissy? ...Yeah, Bonnie's coming too. ...OK, see you tonight. Oh, Chrissy? I almost forgot, I'm supposed to be babysitting my neighbor's kid Matison tonight. Do you mind if I bring her with me? ...OK, great. See you later. Bye," Steph said, before pressing a button and stuffing her phone back in her bag.

"If the party's at five, we'd better get going and get ready," Bonnie said, before levitating the water out of the glass and into her mouth. Luna smiled.

"You're getting the hang of this, aren't you, Bonnie. Well, I suppose you two could go to the party tonight. You'll probably be need there anyway, since Youma are attracted to large groups of people rather than individuals. It wouldn't surprise me if another Youma tries to crash this party too," Luna said. Steph and Bonnie smiled at each other and ran up the stairs. Steph stopped halfway up and thought for a moment, before dashing back down and poking her head into the room.

"Sure you don't wanna come too, Luna?" Steph asked. Luna smiled.

"I think people would be rather shocked if you brought a talking cat to a party, Steph," Luna said, walking over to the computer and turning it on.

"Please enter voice identification passcode," the electronic voice said.

"The Beauty of Water has appeared with a splash," Luna said. Behind her, Bonnie giggled at the passcode.

"Welcome, Luna. It's good to hear that Mercury has been found, and she and Sailor Moon took care of the youma without needing Sailor V," the voice said.

"How does Central Control know about what happened at the beach party?" Steph asked.

"Shhh, Steph, Central Control knows a lot of things," Luna said.

"Anyway, Luna, I have a feeling that Sailor Mars will be the next to appear, and she'll probably appear tonight," the voice said.

"_Another_ Scout? That's two in one day! How many other Scouts _are_ there?" Steph asked.

"There's only one other scout you have to worry about finding apart from Mars, and that's Sailor Jupiter," the voice said.

"So do we have any idea who Mars could be?" Bonnie asked.

"Unfortunately, Bonnie, we have very few leads as to Mars' civilian identity," The voice replied.

"You know who I am?" Bonnie asked in amazement.

"Yes, I know about you, Bonnie, and I know about you too, Steph," the voice said, sounding rather smug. Steph and Bonnie looked at each other, then back at the screen. Sailor Mars' profile information flashed up, and Steph and Bonnie stared at the picture of the girl, whose long, dark hair sparkled as much as the tiara on her forehead.

"I wonder who she could be," Bonnie said.

"Well, if she _is_ going to show up tonight, she could be going to the party, so I suggest you two go and get ready. And it looks like I'll have to go to the party after all," Luna said, before switching the computer off. "Oh, by the way, Bonnie, I have a present for you," Luna said, jumping onto the table and doing another backflip, the silver sparks forming a small blue computer with the mercury symbol on it. Bonnie picked it up and flipped it open, smiling as she pressed the buttons.

"It's your Mercury Computer, Bonnie. It can tell you what Youma are weak against, analyse energy, and it also has profile information on all of the Scouts," Luna said, smiling. Steph pouted.

"Don't I get a present, Luna?" she asked. Luna sighed, then did another backflip, this time creating a small gold crescent-moon-shaped pendant. Steph picked it up eagerly, smiling as she examined its shiny surface.

"It's called a Moon Charm, Steph. It's kind of like a good luck charm. Moon Charms are made on Earth during solar eclipses, and they're quite rare, since Lunarians very rarely went down to the surface of Earth. Of course, our Princess was the exception to the rule. She went down to Earth whenever she had the chance," Luna said, smiling. "Now, I think that's enough messing around. Hadn't you two better be getting ready for that party now?" Steph and Bonnie nodded and raced out of the room.

________________________________________________________________________________

"...OK. ...No, that's OK, I understand. Have fun," Christina said, before hanging up and turning to the couch, then stopping. "Artemis?" she called, looking around. Artemis poked his head out of the closet, then switched off the computer and went back to the loungeroom.

"Oh, there you are. I rang all my friends, but only Steph, Bonnie, Dee, Nixx, Jess and Alice are able to come. Steph has to bring her neighbour's kid Matison with her, 'cause Steph has to babysit her tonight. But even though we've got one extra person, at least Steph and Bonnie will be here, so you can meet them," Christina said. Artemis sighed and nodded.

"I suppose it's better this way, because if Sailor Mars is one of your friends, we'll have less people to check at one time," Artemis said.

"Um, yeah, about that, Artemis. How are you going to meet my friends? I mean they'll probably all be going, 'oh, what a pretty kitty you are!' and things like that, you know, talking to you like you're a baby. And what happens if you accidentally forget, and start talking back to them?" Christina asked, biting her lip.

"Oh, that's nothing. I'll get this place cleaned up, and then deal with that problem," Artemis said, before picking up one of the newspapers scattered on the floor and throwing it into a closet. Christina shrugged and went upstairs to change.

________________________________________________________________________________

"I wonder whether Chrissy's heard from her mum and dad after they went on that extended holiday," Steph wondered, smoothing out a crinkle in her pink party dress. She noticed a leaf stuck to the botttom of her matching high heeled shoes, and sat down on Christina's doorstep to remove it, smiling up at Bonnie as she did so. Bonnie smiled back, the blue of her dress almost exactly matching her twinkling eyes.

"That Charm goes really well with your dress, Steph," Bonnie said, smiling as the dying light danced on the smooth surface of Steph's Moon Charm. Behind them, a small brown-haired girl sighed and began kicking at a clump of grass.

"Steph, I'm bored. Let's go," the girl whined, kicking a rock loose from the dirt. Steph stood up and sighed.

"Matison, I already told you, I'm your babysitter, and that means that you need to stay with me. Besides, we haven't even gone inside yet," Steph said. "And stop kicking at the dirt, you're getting your shoes dirty," she added, looking at the dark-brown marks on Matison's white shoes. Steph turned around and knocked on the door, which was answered by a small, silver-blonde boy wearing a white t-shirt and yellow shorts.

"Hi! I'm Artie, Christina's cousin. You must be Steph and Bonnie. Come on in!" the boy said, holding the door open for the girls. Steph and Bonnie looked at each other and shrugged, then went inside, Matison following grumpily behind them.

"Hi, are you Matison?" Artie asked, closing the door and smiling at Matison. She nodded.

"Well, I don't think you'd be very interested in talking with Christina and the others about boys and shopping – bleaugh – but she's got some video games that you could have a go at," Artie said, guiding Matison into the games room, where she eagerly pounced on a selection of Playstation games. Artie pulled out a Digimon game and showed her how to play it, then left her to enjoy herself. Artie walked through the house to the loungeroom, where Steph and Bonnie were just sitting down on the couch nest to Christina, Dee and Phoenix, who were chatting away. All three wore pretty party dresses – Christina's orange, Dee's red, Phoenix's green – and they all smiled at each other.

"Hi, Christina, I didn't know you had your cousin Artie staying over," Bonnie said, watching Artie, who had gone into the kitchen and was pouring himself a glass of lemonade. Christina blushed a little and glanced at Artie, who flashed her a grin and a thumbs-up.

"I didn't know you _had_ a cousin called Artie!" Steph said. Christina blushed a little more and looked thoughtfully at Artie, thinking about what had happened less than half an hour ago...

________________________________________________________________________________

"_How do I look, Artemis?" Christina asked, smiling and twirling around in her orange party dress. Artemis smiled._

"_You look great, Christina. But remember why you're having this party. We need to find out whether any of your other friends are Scouts," Artemis said._

"_Yeah, yeah, I know. You did a good job of cleaning up, Artemis, but there's still the problem of you being a talking cat at the party," Christina said. Artemis chuckled and closed his eyes. There was a flash of white light, and Artemis transformed into a small boy with short, white-blonde hair and twinkling midnight-blue eyes._

"_How do__**I**_ _look, Christina?" Artemis giggled, his voice higher than normal._

"_Artemis... When did you... How did you... That's..." Christina spluttered, staring at her guardian._

"_Call me Artie, Christina, and pretend that we're cousins. It'll help to prevent arousing any suspicion," Artemis said. "It also might help to prevent suspicion if you pretended that I was an annoying cousin, and you order me around a bit..." he added as an afterthought._

"_Oh-kay, well, that's one problem solved, at least," Christina said, trying to ignore the strangeness of the situation. Artemis smiled._

"_People are unlikely to stare at me, Christina, because one big telltale sign of my normal form is gone. See?" he said, pointing to his bare forehead. Christina nodded slowly, then stared._

"_What about that, then?" she asked, pointing at Artemis' long white tail, which was still there. Artemis frowned._

"_Unfortunately, I can't change that. I'll just have to hide it," he said, tucking the tail into his yellow shorts and pulling his white t-shirt down over it. "There we are. Perfect." Christina giggled._

"_Yeah, but you'd better hope it doesn't slip out during the party," she said, before going upstairs to finish getting ready. Artemis sighed and sat down on the couch, before wincing and jumping up again._

"_OK, I guess I can't sit on it like this," he murmured to himself. "Guess I'd better get some snacks and things ready, 'cause all the girls, especially Steph and Bonnie, will be rather hungry after what happened at the beach party." Artemis walked over to the pantry and began pulling out soft drink, chips and lollies._

________________________________________________________________________________

Christina smiled to herself, then thought about what Artemis had suggested. _Well, _she thought,_ he _did _suggest that I treat him like an annoying cousin, so..._

"Hey, Artie! Don't suppose you could get us a few drinks over here, could you?" Christina called, her eyes twinkling with glee. Artie looked up sharply and stared at Christina, quickly realising what she was doing.

"You're so lazy, Chris. I'm not your servant. If you want drinks, come and get them yourself," He said, folding his arms and staring challengingly at Christina. Christina's eyebrows jumped upwards as she saw that he understood, then she marched over to the kitchen and placed her hands on her hips.

"For the last time, _Arthur_, don't call me Chris," Christina said, glaring at the young boy. Artie instantly caught on.

"And for the last time, _Chris_, don't call me Arthur!" he said, glaring back.

"And I thought sibling rivalry was bad," Bonnie muttered, watching the two 'cousins' glaring at each other.

"Aaargh! You are so _annoying_, Artie! Don't ruin my party!" Christina yelled, storming upstairs, where she slammed her bedroom door in pretend anger and then collapsed onto her bed in a fit of silent giggles. Downstairs, Artie was staring at the stairs with a worried expression on his face.

"Should someone go check on her?" Steph whispered nervously. Artie glanced at Steph, looking like he was about to cry. In reality, he felt like he was about to burst out laughing.

"I-I'll go," he said, before walking slowly upstairs. He knocked on Christina's bedroom door and quietly called,

"Christina? Can I come in? It's just me." Artie heard a quick patter of feet approaching the other side of the door, which opened to reveal Christina, red-eyed and grinning. She glanced around to make sure no-one else had followed, then dragged Artie into the bedroom and shut the door, and the two of them dissolved into giggles once again.

"Oh, Artemis, you deserve an Oscar for that performance!" Christina gasped between giggles. Artie sank onto the bed, giggling madly. Suddenly, there was a flash of white light, and Artie turned back into a cat. They immediately stopped laughing and gasped.

"Why'd you turn back, Artemis? You can't let the girls see you like this," Christina said. Artemis sighed and changed back into a little boy, before saying,

"Unfortunately, this form has several triggers that make me change back. Sneezing is one of them. It seems that laughing is another." Christina nodded slowly and wiped her eyes, which were wet from crying with laughter. She smoothed out her dress, checked her face in her mirror and then turned to Artie and smiled.

"Shall we go back down now?" she asked. Artie nodded, and the two went back downstairs, where Steph, Bonnie, Dee, Phoenix, Alice and Jess were sitting in a subdued silence. Christina smiled a little at her friends and began pouring herself a glass of raspberry soft drink.

"Um, listen, Christina. I'm sorry for upsetting you. Here, let me do that," Artie said, tugging the bottle of soft drink from Christina's grip and filling her glass, before grabbing two more glasses and filling them. He passed Christina's glass to her, then picked up the other two and handed them shyly to Steph and Bonnie.

"Thanks, Artie," Bonnie said, taking the glass and smiling. Artie blushed a little and sat down, taking a few lollies from the bowl on the coffee table. He looked up at Christina, who winked back at him and walked out of the room. She wandered back and forth between the loungeroom and the dining room, trying to sense any warm energy, indicating that a Scout was nearby. As she neared the games room, she finally sensed a tingle of energy, but it had none of the warmth of a Scout's aura. Instead it was cold, dark and foreboding. Christina peeked into the games room, where a horrific sight greeted her. A tall, pitch-black Youma with glowing red eyes stood amongst a mess of ruined games, TVs and games consoles, and there, struggling weakly in the youma's grip, was Matison. Christina glanced around, noticing that Steph had a clear view of the door of the games room, but had no view of the youma. Christina looked around frantically for a place to hide so that she could transform, but came up with nothing. _I can't transform here, _she thought frantically, _Steph will see! And I can't go further into the games room to transform, because the youma will be able to get me! Guess there's only one thing for it, then... _Christina took a deep breath, screwed up her eyes and screamed at the top of her lungs, before running through the loungeroom, out the back door and into the shed, where she quickly and quietly transformed. Jumping onto the shed roof, she watched and waited.

________________________________________________________________________________

Steph and Bonnie looked up sharply when they heard Christina scream, then looked at each other in alarm as their friend ran past them. Artie stood up and ran down to the games room. As soon as he spotted the youma, he turned and ran back to the loungeroom.

"Guys, we need to hide. Right now. There's a youma in the games room," he said, panting a little and opening a cupboard. Alice and Jess dived into the cupboard, slamming the door behind them. Pheonix darted up the stairs, Steph and Bonnie jumped into the spacious pantry, and Dee and Artie hid in separate cabinets under the sink. Artie opened his cupboard a little, and saw pink and blue lights flashing underneath the pantry door. _They really are Sailor Scouts,_ he thought as the pantry door opened and Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury stepped out. They turned just in time to see the youma burst into the kitchen and began throwing cupboards open in search of victims, seemingly oblivious to the two girls standing in the middle of the room. The two scouts glared at the youma

"Hey, you! Blackie!" Sailor Moon began, pointing at the youma. Sailor Mercury turned to look at Sailor Moon.

" 'Blackie'? You have an entire dictionary of nasty names to use, and you choose 'Blackie'?!?" she asked, incredulous. Sailor Moon blushed a little, but continued.

"Oi, jerk-face! Stop right there! I won't let you disrupt this party any longer! I'm Sailor Moon, and in the name of the Moon, I shall punish you!"

"Parties are supposed to be fun, not scary! I'm Sailor Mercury! And in the name of Mercury, I shall punish you!" The youma either didn't hear them or was ignoring them, because it didn't even hesitate in its search. It found the cupboard where Alice and Jess were hiding, and, ignoring their shrieks of fear, grabbed one in each hand and drained their energy. It then dropped the unconscious girls on the floor and resumed its search. Sailor Mercury frowned.

"Mercury Bubbles Blast!" In an instant, the kitchen was covered in a thick blanket of fog.

"Yeah!" Mercury cheered. Suddenly, the fog swirled very fast and began to lift. Within seconds, Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury were able to see why: the youma was inhaling the fog. It swallowed the last of the fog and grinned, then began searching the cupboards again.

"Moon Tiara Magic!" Sailor Moon's tiara flew across the room and hit the youma, bouncing off it like a trampoline. Sailor Moon jumped and caught her tiara as it flew back to her, then turned to Mercury.

"Mercury, use your computer to find out what this thing's weakness is, while I hold it off!" she said, before picking up a nearby chair. Mercury pulled out her computer and began typing away at it.

"Well, we know that it's not weak against your bubbles or my tiara," Sailor Moon said, shoving the youma away from the cupboard where Artie was hiding.

"Could I throw a pot at it?" Mercury said, glancing up and giggling. She continued tapping away at her computer. When the computer gave her an answer, she gasped, then groaned.

"Sailor Moon, we've got a problem. This thing's only weakness is fire!" Mercury said, looking up at Sailor Moon, who was now having a tug-of-war over the chair with the youma.

"I guess you can't throw a pot at it, then," Sailor Moon said, before the youma threw her, chair and all, across the kitchen. She slammed into a cupboard door, which splintered to reveal Dee hiding there. The youma roared with delight and seized Dee, pulling her out of the cupboard and into the air. Dee grabbed the youma's fingers and attempted to free herself.

"OK, that's it. Stop hurting my friends, you jerk!" Sailor Moon yelled, picking up the chair and swatting the youma over the head with it. It glared at her, then yelped as its fingers began smoking where Dee was gripping them. Dee glared at the youma, the Mars symbol glowing on her forehead.

"Dee is Mars?!?" Sailor Moon yelped, staring at her friend. Suddenly, Luna jumped through a window onto the youma's head. She gave its face a good scratching, then pressed a red-and-gold transformation pen into Dee's outstretched hand.

"Shout 'Mars Power'!" Luna instructed, before dodging the youma's free hand and landing on the floor.

"Mars Power!" Dee shouted, before the youma's fist became engulfed in flames. It yelped and dropped his prisoner, who landed gently on her feet, the flames making her hair long and dark, and creating the usual white leotard, a red skirt, collar, choker and high-heeled shoes, white gloves with red bands, a red bow on her lower back, a purple bow on her chest and a tiara with a red gem on her forehead. The fire went out, and Dee opened her eyes and glared at the youma.

"You're going down, you ugly youma! I'm the Passionate Sailor Scout of Fire: Sailor Mars! And in the name of Mars, I shall punish you!" she shouted. She pressed her hands together with her thumbs and pointer fingers touching, and a ball of fire appeared at the tips of her touching fingers.

"Mars Fire Ignite!" she shouted, sending the fireball hurtling across the room and into the youma's stomach. Mars helped Sailor Moon to her feet as the youma shrieked with pain, its flesh sizzling.

"Sailor Moon, I-" Mars began, before spinning around as the youma let out another roar. All eyes were drawn to the red rose embedded in the youma's burnt stomach.

"I think we need to combine our attacks, Sailor Moon," Mars said, turning back to Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon nodded and took off her tiara.

"Moon Tiara..."

"Mars Fire..."

"Magic!"

"Ignite!" The fireball surrounded the glowing tiara, and the combined attack flew across the room at the youma. The youma let out a screech of pain, then exploded into dust.

"Yeah! We did it!" Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars cheered, high-fiving each other. Luna and Mercury smiled.

"Well done, Sailor Scouts," said a voice, and everyone looked up to see Tuxedo Mask standing in the kitchen doorway. He nodded to them, then disappeared with a swish of his cape.

"Welcome to the team, Sailor Mars! Now we only have Sailor Jupiter to find!" Luna said, smiling. The sliding glass door to the backyard opened, and Sailor V stepped inside, her blue eyes twinkling behind her mask.

"Well, it's good to see I wasn't needed for once. I'm glad that you realised that teamwork is necessary when your individual attacks don't work," she said, smiling at the three Scouts and Luna. "A word to the wise, though. Be careful of Tuxedo Mask. Who knows what he's doing interfering with Scout business."

"He's helping us," Sailor Moon protested.

"Yes, but why? What does he have to gain from helping the Sailor Scouts? What's he up to?" Sailor V asked.

"Well, I..." Sailor Moon trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"Until we know what he's up to, it would be wise to stay away from him, Sailor Moon," Sailor V said.

"I think you're right, Sailor V," Luna said. Sailor Moon looked faintly dissapointed, but nodded.

"Be careful, girls. I'll see you around," Sailor V said, before disappearing out the back door again. She ran over to the shed and jumped inside, sliding the door shut and detransforming. Grinning, Christina sat down on the floor of the shed and curled up in pretend fear. In the kitchen, Sailor Moon sighed and detransformed. Mars started, staring at Steph.

"Steph?!? You're Sailor Moon?!?" she gasped, detransforming. Steph smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, and guess who Sailor Mercury here is," she said. Dee looked at Mercury, who smiled back at her. Dee gasped again as Mercury detransformed.

"Bonnie?!?"

"No, I'm not, don't lie!" Bonnie said, giggling. Steph suddenly grabbed Bonnie's arm, looking horrified.

"Oh my gosh! What about the others? Where are Nixx and Alice and Jess and Matison and Artie? Where's Chrissy?" she said, looking around. The girls began searching, and quickly found Artie hiding under the sink. He climbed out and helped them lay Alice, Jess and Matison on the couch, then they went searching again. Upstairs, they found Phoenix hiding under Christina's bed, which was a rather cramped hiding place considering all of the junk that was stuffed under there.

"Is it gone?" Phoenix asked, crawling out and pulling one of Christina's white shirts off of her shoe.

"Yeah, it's gone, Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Tuxedo Mask and another Sailor Scout called Sailor Mars destroyed it," Steph said, helping Phoenix to her feet. Dee looked at her for a moment before understanding that they needed to keep their identities secret.

"Sailor Mars? Seems to me that all the Sailor Scouts are named after the planets. What's the next Scout going to be called, Sailor Jupiter?" she asked jokingly. Steph, Bonnie and Dee just looked at each other knowingly.

"C'mon, let's go find Christina, you guys. She's not going to be happy that her party got ruined twice," Artie said from the doorway. The girls all trooped back downstairs.

"Well, it looked to me like she went outside," Steph said, stepping out the back door into the cold night air. "Chrissy? Where are you?" she called, looking around the yard.

"Maybe she's in there," Artie whispered, pointing to the shed.

"Why are you whispering, Artie?" Bonnie asked. Artie blushed and shrugged. Dee marched over to the shed and yanked the door open, the faint moonlight revealing Christina, curled up in a corner. She let out a cry of surprise when the door opened, then jumped up looking relieved.

"Is it gone?" she asked, looking over their shoulders towards the house.

"Yup, it's all clear in there," Bonnie said. Christina climbed out of the shed and smiled.

"Phew. What happened?" she asked.

"Sailor Mars appeared and helped Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury and Tuxedo Mask defeat the youma, didn't she, Steph," Dee said excitedly. Steph smiled at her and nodded.

"Well, I guess we'd better get inside and start cleaning up. There's probably a pretty big mess in there, if the beach party is anything to go by," Christina sighed.

"Yeah, there's a pretty big mess in the kitchen," Steph said.

"And there's practically nothing left of the stuff in the games room," Artie added

"Aw, man! I was up to the final battle in one of my Digimon games!" Christina wailed. Steph, Bonnie, Dee, Phoenix and Artie looked at one other and burst out laughing.


	4. Phoenix: Sailor Jupiter

Chapter 4! Hooray! Hope you like it!

Disclaimer:

Anyone who is stupid enough to claim that they own Sailor Moon is a Baka. I'm not, because I'll freely admit that I don't own it.

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"Gee, this is gonna cost a mint to get fixed, Artemis," Christina said, looking around the kitchen, which was now cleared of wreckage(excluding the small pieces of cupboard door hanging from their hinges). Artie threw a piece of splintered wood and a mangled game console into a half-full garbage bag and dragged it outside. He walked back into the house and flopped down onto the couch, turning back into his cat form with a flash.

"Yeah... Well, I think we got a few answers tonight. We know for certain that your friend Dee is Mars. All we need now is Jupiter," Artemis said.

"Any ideas as to who she may or may not be? Considering which of my friends could come tonight," Christina asked, sitting down next to her feline friend. Artemis sighed thoughtfully.

"Well, I think we could cross your friends Alice and Jess off as possibilities, considering how quickly the youma drained their energy," Artemis said slowly.

"And Matison," Christina added. Artemis nodded in agreement. "What about Nixx? So far she's been at two of the youma attacks, but she's never been in any danger, so we've never actually had the chance to find out whether or not she's a Scout. At the beach party, she and Dee ran off as soon as the youma showed up, and tonight she hid upstairs when you found out that there was a youma in the house," Christina said.

"Well, I doubt that she can avoid youma attacks forever, so I suspect that we'll find out whether she's a Scout soon enough," Artemis said. Christina nodded and walked over to the window. "Oh, and I must say, I quite liked the way you alerted us to the youma's presence, although you shouldn't do that all the time," Artemis added. Christina blushed.

"Well, I knew I couldn't transform in the doorway, 'cause Stephy would have seen, and I couldn't go any further into the room, 'cause then the youma could have got me. So I figured that if I screamed and ran to find a hiding place, I'd be able to find somewhere to transform, as well as alerting Steph and Bonnie to the Youma's presence," Christina said. Artemis nodded.

"That was some excellent quick thinking then," Artemis said. Christina smiled.

"I hope we can find Jupiter soon. Things seem to be getting harder, and we'll need her help," Christina said.

"I don't think that's such a big problem right now. The biggest concern is Tuxedo Mask. I think... He could be the reincarnation of Prince Endymion," Artemis said. Christina gasped and looked at Artemis.

"Are you sure?" she asked, her eyes wide. Artemis nodded. Christina frowned. "Well, if he is, then Stephy _definitely_ needs to stay away from him." After a while, she shook her head to clear it and said,

"Any ideas when Jupiter will show up?" Artemis frowned.

"Well, Jupiter and Mars always got on well, so she shouldn't be far away. Maybe... Tomorrow?"

"That soon? I'd better get a good night's sleep so I'm ready for it, then. G'night, Artemis. See you in the morning." Christina gave Artemis a hug and then ran upstairs to her room.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Morning, Steph! Did you sleep in again?" Bonnie asked, smiling as Steph and Luna approached. Dee looked up from her book and smiled. Steph blushed a little and opened the door, leading her friends into the base.

"Wow, this is nice!" Dee said, looking around the room. Steph hurried over to the ice cream hatch and tossed menus to Bonnie and Dee.

"Oooh, cool! Do we get free ice cream?" Dee asked, looking down the list of flavours.

"Yes, we do. I don't think I'll have any today, Steph," Luna said, switching on the silver computer and putting on her microphone headset.

"Gee, Luna, you never seem to have any," Steph said, before turning away and ordering a double cone of Death By Chocolate.

"That's because I've got more important things to do than eat ice cream, Steph," Luna said, glancing at Steph.

"I'll have a single scoop of Boysenberry, please, Steph," Bonnie said, looking at her menu.

"Same in Chocolate for me, please," Dee said, pulling a bottle of water from her bag and taking a sip. Steph nodded and ordered the ice cream. Behind them, the computer hummed as it booted up, then beeped.

"Please enter voice identification passcode," the electronic voice said.

"The Fiery Planet Scout blazes into action," Luna said. Steph, Bonnie and Dee looked at one another and started giggling.

"Welcome, Luna. I'm pleased that Sailor Mars showed up so quickly. Now we just need to find Jupiter," the voice said.

"Sailor Jupiter... What do we know about her?" Bonnie asked, taking her ice cream from Steph and licking it. Jupiter's profile information flashed up on the screen. Steph, Bonnie and Dee approached the computer and stared at the picture of the last Scout, a beaded green hairtie glinting prettily against her high ponytail of brown hair.

"We don't know who she is yet, although we suspect that she could be one of your friends. That seems to be the pattern that the Scouts are appearing in," the voice said.

"That makes sense, since the Scouts and the Princess were all such good friends in the Silver Millennium," Luna said.

"Anyway, Jupiter can't be too far away. She might even show up today, so keep your eyes open," the voice said, before adding, "Oh, and Luna, you'd better start teaching Dee to control her civilian powers."

"Good idea. I will," Luna said, before switching the computer off.

"What do you mean, my 'civilian powers'?" Dee asked.

"Like this," Bonnie said, pointing at Dee's bottle of water, which froze with a sparkling snap. Dee gasped.

"Oh, wow! How'd you do that, Bonnie?" Dee asked. Bonnie smiled.

"I'm not exactly sure, but that's one of my civilian powers," she said, pointing at the bottle again and defrosting it.

"Bonnie can control Water and Ice in her civilian form because she is the Scout of Water and Ice. You, Dee, can control Fire in your civilian form, because you are the Scout of Fire," Luna said, jumping onto the floor. She did a backflip, and a small metal platform with a pile of wood on it appeared on the floor. Dee looked at it eagerly and smiled.

"Now, Dee, I want you to kneel on the floor next to the platform. Focus, and search your heart for your power. You should be able to stare at the wood and make your power light it," Luna said, sitting down beside the platform. Dee obeyed and closed her eyes, searching for her power. She felt a warm tingle deep in her heart, and opened her eyes. As soon as she looked at the wood, it burst into flames. Steph and Bonnie cheered.

"That's it, Dee. Well done," Luna said, smiling. Dee smiled and stared at the fire, then gasped as images began appearing in the flames.

"What's wrong, Dee?" Steph asked, her smile fading. Dee shook her head frantically and put her finger to her lips, still watching the flames. Suddenly, the flames went out, and Dee looked up.

"Didn't you guys see that?" she asked, looking from Steph to Bonnie. Both girls shook their heads.

"No one else can see anything in the flames, Dee. Fire Reading is another of your civilian powers. I was about to tell you, but it seems you found out for yourself," Luna said, smiling a little.

"What did you see, Dee?" Steph asked.

"I... I saw us in our Scout outfits, talking to Jupiter," Dee said.

"That's certainly good news," Luna noted, smiling.

"Luna, I know this is kinda off track a little, but do you think we'll find the Princess soon?"

"Princess? What Princess?" Bonnie asked.

"Part of our Mission as Sailor Scouts is to find and protect the Moon Princess and her Imperium Silver Crystal," Steph said.

"I hope so. At present, though, we need to find Sailor Jupiter. I suggest that you three go for a walk and see if you can sense anything. If you do, contact me with these," Luna said, doing three backflips and creating three mobile phones, each with one of the Scout symbols on it. The girls took their corresponding phone and slipped it into their bags. "Oh, and if you need to sneak into somewhere, you can take pictures of other people and transform into them using your phones," Luna added. The girls nodded and left.

"Where should we go?" Steph asked.

"Well, what about going to Gateway Plaza? I still have a bit of Christmas shopping to do," Bonnie said.

"Good idea," Steph and Dee said at the same time. The three laughed and ran off in the direction of the Gateway Plaza shopping centre.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Artemis, are you sure we should be doing things this way?" Sailor V asked, looking down at the Gateway Plaza car park below them. Artemis nodded.

"Yes. We need to keep an eye on Phoenix, and the best way to do that is by being in Scout form," he said, looking around. After a while, Sailor V said,

"Look, there she is." Artemis looked in the direction that Sailor V was pointing, and saw Phoenix walking towards the entrance doors.

"I can't just walk into Gateway as Sailor V, Artemis. I need to detransform first," Sailor V said, watching Phoenix carefully.

"Good point," Artemis said. Sailor V ran across the roof and jumped down into the empty carpark at the back of the plaza, detransforming as she jumped. Christina landed on the ground and glanced around, before signalling for Artemis to come. Artemis jumped down to Christina's side, then transformed into his human form.

"Now, let's get in there quickly," Artie said, tucking his tail into his shorts. Christina nodded, and the pair ran around to the front entrance, where they found Phoenix talking to Steph, Bonnie and Dee.

"Oh, hey, guys! We seem to be seeing a lot more of each other lately, don't we?" Christina called, slowing to a walk and joining the others.

"Hey, Chrissy! Hey, Artie! Fancy running into you again!" Steph said.

"I would have thought that you'd still be in bed, Christina. It must have taken you ages to clean up all the mess that that Youma made last night," Phoenix said. Christina shrugged.

"Nah, not really. About an hour," she said.

"Really? So how much stuff did you lose?" Bonnie asked. Christina laughed bitterly.

"What didn't I lose? We must've thrown out about three dozen video games, four game consoles, two TVs, roughly eight cupboard doors, the microwave, the fridge... need I say more?" she said. The other girls gasped.

"How are you going to pay to replace all of that?" Dee asked. Christina smiled.

"That's no problem. I'll just take a little out of my bank trust that Mum and Dad left for me. What I can't replace is all the records that I had on the games," she said bitterly. Suddenly, a loud grumbling filled the air, and Christina and Artie began to laugh.

"You hungry, Stephy?" Christina asked. Steph smiled and nodded, her cheeks turning pink.

"Well, what say we go get some lunch? I'm starving," Bonnie said, glancing at the other girls, who nodded.

"Sounds good, Bonnie. Where should we go?" Steph asked.

"Well, how about we split up and meet back here once we've got something?" Christina suggested.

"Good idea, Christina," Dee said. The others nodded, and then the group split up. Steph, Bonnie and Dee walked down to a cafe, while Christina and Artie followed Phoenix into a nearby snack bar.

"What would you like, Christina? I'll order for you if you'll go see if you can find somewhere to sit, OK?" Artie asked, looking at her pointedly. Christina looked puzzled for a moment, then realised that Artie was really asking her to go and see if she could sense anything. She nodded and said,

"OK, sure. I'll have a caramel milkshake and a bucket of chips, please, Artie," Christina said, then walked slowly towards the other end of the Plaza, focusing intently. As she neared the other end, she began to sense Steph's anger, along with Bonnie and Dee's amusement. She turned the corner and found a crowd of people blocking the entrance to the cafe. Christina pushed through the group to find Steph arguing with a tall red-headed boy.

"Riley, when are you going to grow up?" Steph yelled. Riley grinned in amusement.

"I will when you do, Meatball Head," he replied. Steph's eyes flashed in anger and pain.

"You are such an immature Jerk!" she yelled, before Bonnie, Dee and Christina dragged her away.

"Steph, calm down. He's never going to grow up. Don't waste your breath on him," Christina said, forcing Steph into a chair. Steph took a deep breath, her face bright red.

"Yeah, he's such a loser. Just ignore him," Dee said. Steph sighed.

"Yeah, I know. It's just, he gets on my nerves sometimes, you know?" she said. Christina, Bonnie and Dee smiled and nodded.

"Hey, don't boys usually tease girls 'cause they like them?" Bonnie asked. Steph went from red to purple to green faster than a traffic light.

"Eeeeewww!!! Him... like ME?!? That's just wrong!!!" Steph wailed. The other girls giggled.

"Anyway, Stephy, we'd better get some lunch and catch up with the others. They're probably waiting for us," Christina said. Steph sighed and nodded, before she, Bonnie and Dee went and ordered lunch. Once they had their orders, they followed Christina back up to the other entrance, where Phoenix and Artie were waiting for them. Artie passed Christina's order to her, then he and Phoenix pulled two tables together for the six of them to sit at. They all sat down, and began eating their lunch. Artie, sitting across the table from Christina, caught her eye and looked at her pointedly. Christina understood his silent question and shook her head. Artemis nodded understandingly.

"Guys, I'll be right back. I'm just going to get another bottle of soft drink," Phoenix said, throwing her empty bottle into a bin and walking away.

________________________________________________________________________________

At the other end of the plaza, a tall, blonde man wearing a strange outfit smirked and placed a piece of pink quartz in a pile of stuffed toys, then vanished with a swish of his cape. The pink quartz glowed, making the toys come alive and grow to ten times their normal size. The toys squealed excitedly and began pouncing on nearby shoppers, pushing them to the ground and draining their energy.

________________________________________________________________________________

Screaming echoed down from the other end of the Plaza, and everyone looked up to see Phoenix running away from a large white stuffed rabbit.

"Help! What is this thing?" she yelled, before diving behind the counter of a muffin shop. Steph, Bonnie and Dee looked at each other.

"Chrissy, Artie, we need to get out of here," Steph said, turning to look at Christina, only to find that she and Artie were already gone. Steph nodded, then looked at Bonnie and Dee.

"Let's do this! Moon Prism Power!"

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!" Sheltered in a nearby supermarket, Riley caught a glimpse of the girls as the plaza was lit up by pink lights, blue bubbles and blood-red flames. He gasped as the elements died down and the Sailor Scouts whirled around and posed.

"I don't believe it. Meatball Head is Sailor Moon?!?" Riley whispered. Sailor Moon, unware of any of this, pointed at the horde of youma.

"This is one of the best places around here to shop, and I won't let you ruin things! I'm Sailor Moon! And in the name of the Moon, I shall punish you!" Sailor Moon shouted, not noticing that her friends were already fighting the giant stuffed toys.

"How about you skip the monologue, Sailor Moon, and help us?" Mercury said, before lifting a stream of water out of a nearby wishing fountain and using it to slice the head off of a stuffed horse, which exploded in a shower of stuffing. Mercury turned and sliced a dog toy-youma in half, while Sailor Mars threw flames at three stuffed cat-youma. Sailor Moon pulled off her tiara.

"Moon Tiara Magic!" Her tiara went spinning across the room, slicing a dozen toy-youma into little bits. Finally, all the youma were gone, and the Scouts looked around at the stuffing scattered all over the Plaza.

"Whew, what a relief," Sailor Moon said.

"It's not over yet. Look!" Mercury said, pointing to one of the small piles of stuffing. The Scouts looked, and noticed that the stuffing was moving across the floor, forming a pile in the middle of the room. The pile of stuffing began to take shape, turning into a huge brown stuffed dog toy-youma. In his hiding place, Riley frowned, then pulled out a red rose with a silver stem. A flurry of red rose petals surrounded him, turning his hair short and black, and forming a black tuxedo, mask, cape and top hat. Tuxedo Mask crouched out of sight, waiting for the right moment to help and contemplating his discovery, unaware that Sailor V and Artie were crouched in the aisle behind his, watching through a gap in the shelves.

"Let's take this thing down!" Mercury said, drawing two thick streams of water from the fountain and sending them at the youma.

"Moon Tiara Magic!"

"Mars Fire Ignite!" the three attacks went flying across the room at the dog-youma, bouncing off it and damaging a number of shops. The dog-youma let out an enormous, delighted bark and charged across to one of the damaged shops. It looked behind the counter, barked delightedly again and then dragged its find out into the open. The Scouts gasped as they realised who it was.

"Nixx! Hang in there! We'll save you!" Sailor Moon shouted, charging forward. Phoenix grabbed the youma's paw, and Sailor Moon skidded to a halt as the youma began to howl in pain, electricity coursing through it.

"What's going on?" Sailor Moon gasped, watching as Phoenix tightened her grip, and the youma yelped and whined as its pain increased.

"I... I don't believe it! Nixx... Nixx is Jupiter?!?" Mercury gasped as the green Jupiter symbol glowed on Phoenix's forehead. The youma pulled away from Phoenix, whimpering. Phoenix clambered to her feet, her eyes blazing. Suddenly, Luna appeared and threw a green-and-gold pen to Phoenix.

"Phoenix! Take this and shout 'Jupiter Power!'" Luna called. Phoenix caught the pen and stared at it, then thrust it into the air above her head.

"Jupiter Power!" Green lightning bolts burst from the pen, surrounding Phoenix and tying her, before creating a white leotard, a green skirt, collar, choker and lace-up boots, white gloves with green bands, pink bows on her chest and lower back and a tiara with a green gem on her forehead. Phoenix whirled around and posed.

"OK, I've had about enough of you stupid youma. This is the third time your kind has ruined our fun, and I'm not going to stand by and let you get away with it any longer! I'm Sailor Jupiter! And in the name of Jupiter, I shall punish you!" she shouted. She crossed her arms over her chest with her index and pinky fingers extended, and a thin rod rose from the top of her tiara. Electricity arced out of nearby machines and powerpoints and gathered on the end of the rod.

"Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter shouted, sending the electricity arcing across the room. The dog toy-youma was struck between the eyes and flew backwards, slamming into the wall. It clambered to its feet, whimpering and growling.

"This thing is really tough!" Mars said, watching the youma warily. The youma growled and swept its tail across the floor, flicking a chair at an unsuspecting Sailor Moon.

"Look out!" Mercury yelled. It was at that moment that Tuxedo Mask showed himself, diving and pushing Sailor Moon out of the way. The table flew over their heads and hit the wall, breaking and showering them with splinters. They sat up, staring at each other. Sailor Moon swallowed nervously, her heart racing.

"Are you alright, Sailor Moon?" Tuxedo Mask asked. Sailor Moon nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I think so..." she said quietly. Tuxedo Mask nodded and helped her to her feet. Sailor Moon smiled at the masked hero, before turning to the toy-youma.

"I think we need to work together to bring this thing down, guys," she said, glancing at her friends.

"Aim for its nose!" Mercury said as her computer gave her the youma's weak spot. The others nodded.

"Moon Tiara..."

"Mercury Bubbles...

"Mars Fire..."

"Supreme..."

"Magic!" "Blast!" "Ignite!" "Thunder!" The three elemental attacks merged with Sailor Moon's tiara, which went spinning across the room and struck the youma in the nose. The dog youma reeled away, yelping madly. With a final loud yelp, it disintegrated into a pile of dust. Sailor Moon sighed, then turned to smile at Tuxedo Mask.

"Um... Th-thanks for saving me again, Tuxedo Mask," she said, her cheeks turning pink. Tuxedo Mask looked at her for a moment, before smiling.

"No problem, Sailor Moon," he said. The two seemed to get incredibly close together, when a yellow beam of light flew across the room and separated them. They jumped back and looked around to find Sailor V standing at the other end of the plaza, pointing at them. She lowered her hands and glared at Tuxedo Mask coldly. Tuxedo Mask sighed.

"See you around, Sailor Moon," he said, before running off with a swish of his cape. Sailor Moon turned to look at Sailor V, frowning.

"What did you do that for, Sailor V? You could have hurt him!" Sailor Moon said, her eyes wet with tears.

"Sailor Moon. I thought I said this before: stay away from Tuxedo Mask," Sailor V said.

"I know, but... But I just can't! He's a good person, I know it! He's saved me twice already, and he was there at the party last night too, except he didn't need to save me then. Can't you see? He's on our side!" Sailor Moon pleaded. Sailor V sighed, her blue eyes softening. Shaking her head in defeat, she smiled at Sailor Jupiter, then disappeared around the corner. Sailor Moon wiped her eyes, then smiled at her friends.

"Hey, we finally found you, Sailor Jupiter! It's great to have you on our team," she said, running over to the other Scouts.

"Finally," Luna said, smiling. "Finally, all four Scouts are back together!"

"Yes, but not for long," said a snide male voice. The girls whirled around to find a tall blonde man in a strange oufit smirking at them.

"I must admit, you girls are strong to be able to defeat my youma. But you won't defeat me," he said.

"Who are you?" Steph asked. The man smiled.

"I am one of Queen Beryl-sama's followers. I am Jadeite, one of the four Generals," the man said.

"Queen Beryl?!? It can't be," Luna gasped.

"And you, Sailor Scouts, are nothing more than an annoyance. An annoyance that I shall have great pleasure in destroying!" Jadeite yelled, pulling out four shards of crystal and throwing them at the Scouts. Suddenly, a yellow beam of light flew across the room, destroying the crystal shards and striking Jadeite in the chest. He grunted in pain, then he vanished in a cloud of orange smoke.

"Now that's what I call timing," Sailor V said, walking up to them and smiling. "I had a feeling that something evil was still here, so I stuck around to check. Turns out I was right."

"Thanks, Sailor V," Jupiter said. Sailor V smiled.

"No problem. Glad I could help. See you around," Sailor V said, before running through the entrance to the plaza. Sailor Moon turned to Jupiter and smiled.

"Yay! I can't believe you're a Sailor Scout, Nixx!" she said, smiling and hugging the newest Scout.

"I-I just can't believe it. You know, last night I was joking about there even being a Sailor Jupiter, and today I find out that I am Sailor Jupiter. It's just crazy," Jupiter said, smiling and detransforming.

"Yeah, we know that you were making jokes about there being a Sailor Jupiter," Mercury said, smiling. Phoenix looked puzzled

"How did you know that?" she asked. Moon, Mercury and Mars smiled, then detransformed. Phoenix's eyes grew incredibly wide.

"You... I... But... S-Steph?!? Bonnie?!? Dee?!? You guys are Scouts too?!?" she spluttered. The girls nodded. "What about Sailor V and Tuxedo Mask? Are they some of our friends too?"

"Dunno. Maybe," Bonnie said. Phoenix nodded understandingly.

"Hey, where's Christina and Artie?" Dee asked, looking around. As if on cue, Artie peeked out from behind the shelves in the supermarket.

"It's OK, Artie. It's gone. Where's Christina?" Bonnie asked.

"I dunno. We got separated when the youma started attacking," Artie said, faking concern. The group began walking through the Plaza, calling Christina's name. They looked and looked, and eventually found Christina hiding outside behind a car.

"Are you OK, Christina? We were worried when we found out that you'd dissapeared," Bonnie said, smiling and helping Christina to her feet.

"What happened? Did Sailor Moon and the other Scouts show up again?" Christina asked.

"Yeah, Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor V and Tuxedo Mask were all here, along with another new scout, Sailor Jupiter," Steph said, smiling and glancing at Phoenix, who smiled knowingly back.

"Sailor Jupiter... that's five Scouts now, right?" Christina asked. The others nodded. Suddenly, a loud grumbling filled the air, and they all started laughing again.

"I guess all that mayhem really _did _make you hungry, Steph," Bonnie said, giggling.

"Well, I guess we should be heading home. I need to finish reading a library book that I borrowed, 'cause it's gotta go back tomorrow," Christina said.

"OK, bye, Chrissy! Bye, Artie!" the girls called, waving to Christina and Artie as they began to walk home. Once they were gone, Steph turned to the others.

"How about we go get some ice cream?" she asked. The others nodded and smiled.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Phew, what a tiring day," Christina said, walking to the window and staring out into the sunset. Artie smiled and sat down on the couch, before changing back into a cat.

"Yeah. But at least now we know who Jupiter is," Artemis said. Christina smiled at him and nodded then turned back to the window.

"I wonder how long I'll have to wait before I tell them. I hate keeping secrets, but this is a really special secret, and I want it to be a surprise," she said, staring out into the darkness. Artemis smiled a little.

"Well, I know you're anxious to reveal this secret, and now that Jupiter has been found, I think it's safe for you to reveal the truth," Artemis said. Christina turned away from the window to look at Artemis. Her smile grew wider as she imagined her friends' faces when they finally found out her incredible secret.


	5. Sailor V: Princess Sailor Venus

Chapter 5! Enjoy! Oh, and I've created a Facebook Fan page for this story. The link is on my profile.

Disclaimer:

**A Sailor Moon Haiku:**

Writing a chapter,

Think about Sailor Moon Rights,

Feel sad – they're not mine.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Hey, you stupid Youma! I'm over here!" Sailor Moon called gleefully, popping out from behind a tree. The orange balloon-like youma laughed back and threw a coloured ball, which missed her and Mercury by a mile and hit a playground, exploding on impact.

"Sailor Moon, stop wasting time and just destroy the stupid thing, would you?" Sailor V said, leaning back against a tree. Sailor Moon nodded and pulled off her tiara.

"Moon Tiara Magic!" The tiara struck the youma, which squealed and crumbled into dust.

"Well, that was easy," Sailor Moon said, retrieving her tiara and putting it back on. Sailor V rolled her eyes and shook her head in defeat, then left.

"Gee, this place is a mess now," Sailor Moon said, looking around.

"Yeah. Let's get back to the base and tell Luna what happened," Mercury said, smiling. Sailor Moon nodded, and the two of them left the Lake Pertobe playground and walked back into town.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Hi, Luna! We're back! That was a really weak Youma," Steph said, walking down the steps.

"But it sure could make a mess," Bonnie added. Luna nodded to acknowledge that she had heard them, but continued searching the internet. Dee and Phoenix looked up from their game of cards and smiled.

"What'cha doin', Luna?" Bonnie asked, sitting down at the table.

"Doing research. I'm trying to find a clear picture of Sailor V, but so far I haven't had much luck," Luna said.

"Well, she does come and go pretty quickly. It must be hard for people to get a clear shot of her," Steph said. Luna looked at Steph for a moment, before nodding in agreement.

"Hey, Nixx, I wonder what your civilian power will be," Dee said, smiling.

"'Civilian power?' What do you mean?" Phoenix asked.

"Like this," Bonnie said, pulling a bottle of water out of her bag, opening it and levitating the water out of the bottle. Phoenix watched in amazement as the water flew around the room, froze, melted and then flowed back into the bottle.

"Wow, that's awesome! How'd you do that?" she asked. Bonnie shrugged.

"I dunno. I just can," she said.

"Our civilian powers are kind of reflective of our Scout powers. Mercury's element is water, so Bonnie can control those things in civilian form. I'm Mars, the Scout of Fire, so I can do things with fire in my civilian form. Like this," Dee said, getting up and walking over to the platform, which had been shifted against the wall. She looked at the wood on the platform and lit it easily, then knelt down and stared intently into the flames.

"What's she doing?" Phoenix whispered.

"She's fire reading. It's one of her civilian abilities," Steph whispered back.

"Really? Wow, that's cool," Phoenix said, watching Dee. Dee frowned at the images appearing in the flames, then nodded.

"Guys, this looks pretty big. We were in a huge park, and there was this other guy there. I'm not sure who he was, but his outfit was similar to Jadeite's yesterday. The five of us and that guy were watching Sailor V take her mask off. I couldn't tell who she really is, though, 'cause that's where the vision ended," she said, looking at the others.

"Sailor V must be more important than I first thought," Luna said, frowning and turning back to the computer. She pressed a few more buttons, and a photograph of Sailor V flashed up onto the screen. Luna gasped.

"Look at this!" Luna gasped, pointing at the photo. The girls crowded around the screen to look at the picture of the superhero.

"What exactly are we looking at, Luna?" Steph asked.

"That!" Luna said, pointing to the crescent moon on Sailor V's forehead. "That's the Lunarian symbol! That's the symbol of our Princess!" The girls gasped.

"So, does that mean that... she _is_ the Princess?" Bonnie asked.

"I'm not sure, but it seems likely that she is. Whether she's the real Princess or not, she's definitely a target for the Negaverse," Luna said.

"We'd better warn her," Phoenix said.

"Yeah well, unfortunately, Nixx, that's not as easy as it sounds. See, we don't actually know who she is," Steph said.

"Yes, that's the problem. We have no idea who she is, and therefore no way to warn her. I think we should just keep our eyes open and warn her as soon as we see her," Luna said. The girls nodded. "I think I'd better let Central Control know about this," Luna added, pressing a few buttons.

"Please enter voice identification passcode," the electronic voice said.

"With a flash of lightning, the last Scout joins the rest," Luna said. Behind her, the four girls giggled.

"Welcome, Luna. It's good to hear that the four scouts are back together at last," the voice said.

"Yes, it certainly is. Now we just need to find the Princess," Luna said. There was a short silence, then the voice said,

"Yes, well, I think she'll probably awaken very soon."

"Um, we've all been wondering... Is Sailor V the Princess?" Luna asked. Again, there was a pause.

"Perhaps. You'll have to wait and see. But as I said, the Princess should be along sometime very soon," the voice said. Luna nodded, then switched the computer off.

"Luna... is it just me, or is Central Control not telling us something?" Steph asked. Luna sighed.

"I hate to say it, but it does sound like Central Control isn't telling us the whole story. Well, he must have his reasons. For now, we'll just continue as we are," Luna said. Steph nodded and pulled out her phone.

"What's that?" Phoenix asked.

"It's a special phone that Luna gave me. We've all got one," Steph said, flipping it open.

"That reminds me, Phoenix, here's one for you," Luna said, doing a backflip and creating a phone with the Jupiter symbol on it. Phoenix took it and examined the symbol. Steph smiled at something on the phone, then pressed a button. There was a flash, and the room was lit up by glittery spots reflecting off of the expensive, diamond-studded dress that had replaced Steph's school uniform.

"Wow! How'd you do that, Steph?" Phoenix asked, staring wide-eyed at the dress, and at Steph's hair, which was now piled up on top of her head in a very curly hairstyle.

"Our phones let us take pictures of people and turn into them. I saw a TV show that had this really gorgeous princess on it, and I just had to take a picture of her," Steph said, smiling and showing them the picture she had taken of the princess on the TV. Luna sighed.

"Steph, this isn't a game. You need to use your phone responsibly," she said. Steph paid no attention, instead changing the dress into a sleeveless pink party dress with a sash. She twirled around and smiled.

"I saw this one out at Gateway yesterday," she explained, smoothing the soft satin dress. Luna sighed.

"Anyway, Phoenix, let's teach you to use your civilian powers, shall we?" she asked. Phoenix nodded, and Luna did another backflip, creating a small metal box with two golden antennae on top.

"OK, Phoenix, basically you use your pointer finger and thumb like a gun and shoot electricity at your target," Luna explained. Phoenix extended her pointer finger and thumb and curled the other fingers up, then pointed at the metal box. A tiny spark erupted from her finger, but it was nowhere near powerful enough to reach the box.

"That's a good start, Phoenix. Try focusing all your power into that finger before you aim," Luna said, smiling. Phoenix nodded and closed her eyes. After a few seconds, the lights began to flicker, and then Phoenix's eyes snapped open. She pointed her finger-gun at the box, and, in a split second, the lights went out and a bolt of blue-green lightning arched from her finger to the box. Next second, the lights came back on, and everyone cheered.

"That's it, Phoenix. Well done!" Luna said, smiling. She nodded happily, then looked up sharply as a sudden surge of energy reached her senses.

"Youma," she said. The others looked at her, wide-eyed.

"Two in one day?" Dee asked.

"Yes, and from the feel of it, it's a strong one this time," Luna said.

"We'd better go, then," Bonnie said. The others nodded, and the four of them ran up the stairs, leaving Luna behind. Luna looked at the picture of Sailor V and frowned. _Sailor V..._ Luna thought, _If you're our Princess, why won't you reveal yourself to us?_

________________________________________________________________________________

"Artemis... Do you get the feeling that it should be today?" Christina asked, placing her book on her bed and looking at her feline friend. Artemis frowned, then nodded.

"Yes, I think you're right. Today does seem like as good a time as any. But there's no point worrying about it. For now, just relax and gather your strength. I'll get you something to eat," Artemis said, before transforming into human form and going downstairs. He was pulling a block of chocolate from the pantry when he sensed the youma. He threw the chocolate onto the bench and ran upstairs.

"Christina, transform! There's a youma in town!" Artie said, bursting into Christina's bedroom. Christina threw the book onto the bed and pulled out her white-and-gold transformation pen. With a flash, she transformed into Sailor V, then jumped out her bedroom window and ran up the road. Artie changed back into a cat and followed.

________________________________________________________________________________

"In there!" Sailor Moon said, pointing to the cinema. The four scouts ran through the entrance and upstairs, earning several stunned looks from cinema patrons. They burst into the upstairs theatre to find the patrons lying around unconscious, their energy being drained by a youma that resembled a person dressed up as a video camera. The youma looked up and dropped its victim when it saw the scouts.

"Movies are supposed to be fun, you stupid jerk! We're the Sailor Scouts! I'm Sailor Moon!"

"Sailor Mercury!"

"Sailor Mars!"

"Sailor Jupiter!"

"And in the name of the Moon..."

"We shall punish you!" the Scouts chorused. The lens on the youma's outfit rotated, then shot out a ball of flame. The scouts flipped and twirled out of the way, and the fireball flew down the stairs and hit a cardboard advertisement, which caught on fire. None of the scouts noticed this, however, as they were too busy fighting the youma.

"Moon Tiara Magic!"

"Mercury Bubbles Blast!"

"Mars Fire Ignite!"

"Supreme Thunder!" the four attacks flew through the air, missing the youma and ricocheting back at their casters. The girls shrieked and ducked to avoid being hit.

"We need to work together!" Mercury shouted. The girls nodded and began their attacks again.

"Moon Tiara..."

"Mercury Bubbles...

"Mars Fire..."

"Supreme..."

"Magic!" "Blast!" "Ignite!" "Thunder!" the four attacks merged in midair and struck the youma, which exploded into dust with a flash of darkness. Sailor Moon sighed with relief as the cinema patrons began waking up. The girls looked around at the messy cinema, then gasped when they caught sight of the fire, which had spread to cover over half of the wall.

"Sailor Moon, we need to get everyone out of here! There's no way I can deal with this now!" Sailor Mercury yelled. Sailor Moon ran past the flaming wall to look down the stairs, and was relieved to see that the flames had not spread downstairs yet.

"OK, everyone, let's go!" Sailor Moon said, running back into the theatre. The five scouts hurried everyone down the stairs and out the front door just in time. Seconds after they had got everyone over to the other side of the road, the windows on both floors exploded, and burning wood began to fall from the second floor into the lobby. The Scouts heaved a sigh of relief and turned to leave, but were stopped by the crowd of people.

"You're heroes!"

"Thank you. You saved our lives."

"That was amazing!"

"Who are you four?" The Scouts smiled.

"I'm the Sailor Scout of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon."

"I'm the Sailor Scout of Water and Wisdom, Sailor Mercury."

"I'm the Sailor Scout of Flame and Passion, Sailor Mars."

"And I'm the Sailor Scout of Thunder and Courage, Sailor Jupiter." The scouts smiles widened as cameras flashed and people cheered. The four scouts looked at one another and nodded, then leapt over the crowd and ran down the street together.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Wow, that was cool. It's like I'm a celebrity," Sailor Moon said, smiling dreamily and sitting down on the grass in the empty Botanic Gardens.

"Sadly, though, I don't think there's going to be much left of the cinema after that youma," Mercury said, sinking onto the grass beside Sailor Moon and staring at the cloud of black smoke hanging over the town. The others sank onto the grass as well, frowning sadly.

"Such silly girls. I would have expected the priorities of the Sailor Scouts to be much different," a deep, unfamiliar voice said. The girls looked up to see a brown-haired, uniformed man standing on a nearby park bench. _This guy looks like the guy that Dee was talking about earlier_, Sailor Moon thought. _Is he another one of the Generals that Jadeite mentioned?_ As if reading her mind, the man said,

"Sailor Scouts, at last we meet. I know that you have already met my fellow General, Jadeite, and I shall not forgive you for what you did. I am Nephrite, loyal follower of Queen Beryl-sama." The Scouts jumped to their feet and flipped away from the crystals that Nephrite threw at them.

"Where is your precious Princess? She's not here to help you, is she," Nephrite chuckled, watching the circling Scouts.

"What do you want with our Princess, anyway?" Mars spat. Nephrite chuckled, then frowned. "That, Sailor Scouts, is none of your business. I am going to defeat you Scouts once and for all and then I shall find your Princess and destroy her too!" Nephrite yelled, conjuring a large crystal and pointing it at Sailor Moon.

"Enough, Nephrite. If you want me, come and get me. If you can catch me first!" a familiar voice called, before a yellow beam of light flew across the Gardens and vaporised Nephrite's crystal. Everyone looked up to see Sailor V looking at them from the top of the bandstand.

"Sailor V... Are you...?" Sailor Moon trailed off. Sailor V smiled a little.

"I knew that today would be the day," she said, reaching up and removing her mask. She began to glow with an intensely bright orange light, which faded to reveal that her outfit had changed. She now wore a white leotard, an orange skirt, collar, choker and high-heels, white gloves with orange bands, a navy-blue bow on her chest, an orange bow on her lower back and her old red bow in her hair. The sunlight twinkled off of the gold crescent moon on her forehead and the large clear gem in the silver tiara on her head.

"Princess..." Sailor Moon gasped. Sailor V nodded.

"Princess! At last!" Luna cried, running into their midst.

"Yes, at last, Princess, you show yourself. And with the Silver Crystal, too. Thank you for making it so easy for me, Princess," Nephrite said.

"As if I would make anything easy for you, Nega-creep," Sailor V said coldly. Nephrite frowned and conjured another large crystal shard.

"Stay back! Don't touch her!" Artemis ordered, jumping onto the railing of the bandstand. "Coming from the time of the Silver Milennium, heir to both the Moon Kingdom and the Imperium Silver Crystal, she is Sailor Venus-sama!" he declared.

"Enough chit-chat. Give me the Crystal!" Nephrite yelled, pointing his crystal shard at Sailor Venus.

"Stop wasting your breath, Nega-creep. I'd never give you the Crystal, and you're nuts if you think I would!" Sailor Venus said. Nephrite roared in anger and threw his crystal shard at Sailor Venus, who simply pointed at it.

"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" she shouted, a yellow beam of light flying from her fingertip and vaporising the crystal shard in midair. The beam continued on its path, striking Nephrite in the stomach and sending him flying backwards into a flower garden, where he disappeared in a cloud of orange smoke. Sailor Venus turned to the other scouts and smiled, then jumped off the bandstand and landed in front of the others.

"Princess! Watch out!" Mars yelled, seeing another brown-haired General appear behind her. She whirled around just in time to see Tuxedo Mask leap between her and the female General, who froze, wide-eyed. The two stared at one other for what seemed like an eternity, then the General said "I don't beleve it! Master? Master Endymion? It... It is you!" Tuxedo Mask's eyes widened in confusion. The General also looked somewhat confused as she dissapeared in a whirl of black rose petals. Tuxedo Mask turned to look at Sailor Venus.

"So... You're the Princess, eh?" he said, looking at her. Sailor Venus put her hands on her hips and frowned at Tuxedo Mask.

"What's it to you?" she said. Tudexo Mask bristled at the iciness of Sailor Venus' tone. He turned and smiled at the other scouts, then left. Sailor Venus watched Tuxedo Mask leave, then smiled at the others.

"Good job at the cinema, girls. See you later," Sailor Venus said, before turning to leave.

"Princess, wait," Luna called. Sailor Venus turned back to smile at Luna.

"Yes, Luna? Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Well... you see, we've been told that it's our mission to protect you, Princess," Luna said.

"I understand, Luna, but I can't have that. I have things that I need to do, and there are things that I need you four to do, too," Sailor Venus said, smiling gently.

"But, Princess..." Luna said weakly.

"Please, Luna. I need you to protect each other, and protect Earth. Everything is pivotal on you doing that," Sailor Venus said. Artemis nodded in agreement and jumped onto Sailor Venus' shoulder.

"Yes, the next few days are going to be some of the most important days yet. The Negaverse is definitely getting stronger, and you'll need to properly awaken to be able to defeat them," he said.

" 'Properly awaken?' What do you mean?" Sailor Moon asked.

"You need to find the true power of the Sailor Scouts within yourselves. If you do that, you will become much stronger, and you'll also remember your past lives," Sailor Venus said. She smiled, then, inexplicably, shuddered. Shaking the moment off, she nodded to the Scouts, then ran off.

"I wonder what all that was about?" Mars wondered.

"I'm not sure, but we need to obey the Princess. For now, we'll focus on awakening your Scout Powers and protecting Earth and each other," Luna said. The girls nodded, then detransformed.

"Well, today certainly was an eventful one, wasn't it," Phoenix said, smiling. The others nodded in agreement.

"Well, we'd better get back to Base and start training you to awaken your Scout Powers," Luna said smartly.

"Aww, Luna, can't we have the rest of today off? I mean, that was the second youma battle today, plus we had to fight that creepy Nephrite guy as well," Steph whined. Luna sighed, but smiled a little.

"Alright, Steph, we'll wait until tomorrow to start training," Luna said. Steph cheered and led the others back into town.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Wow, what a day," Christina said, sinking onto the couch. Artie nodded and ran upstairs, then returned with the book that Christina had been reading. He then picked up the block of chocolate that was on the bench and presented both to Christina.

"Go on, you've earned it, Princess," he said. Christina took them, but frowned at Artie.

"Artemis, I thought we talked about this. Please don't call me 'Princess', It's really strange, and it's not right," she said, before breaking off a row of chocolate and stuffing it into her mouth. Artie smiled and watched as Christina sunk back into the fantasy of her book.

________________________________________________________________________________

**Author's note: **Yes, I know that in the manga, Minako transforms into V with a completely different pen to everyone else's. I just felt like giving myself a usual pen and changing the colours instead. Oh, and it should be noted that the cinema here actually did burn down, and I felt like explaining it with a Youma. Please review! This is chapter 5, and I've only had three reviews so far, two of them from Steph(Yes, I am referring to the Steph in my story. Konnichiwa, Usagi-chan!). I want more opinions! So, onegai(that means 'please', for anyone who doesn't know) review!


	6. Christina: Sailor Venus

Chapter 6! Yay! I like this one. I hope you do too!

Disclaimer:

**Sparrowflyaway:** …Oooh, a letter? For me! Cool! Who's writing to me? Maybe it's from Naoko Takeuchi. I did write to her last week and offer to buy the rights to Sailor Moon... let's see... "Dear Sparrowflyaway, While your offer of $150 is very generous for someone your age, I am not looking to sell the rights to Sailor Moon at present. Please find enclosed a signed picture of your favourite Sailor Scout, Sailor Venus. I hope you continue to enjoy Sailor Moon. Sincerely, Takeuchi Naoko." Darn! I was hoping she'd like my offer enough to sell the rights to me.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Ding, dong."

"I'll get it!" Christina called, dropping her plate of pancakes onto the couch and running to the door. She peered through the peephole to see a familiar head of red hair on the other side. She frowned and opened the door.

"What are you doing here, Riley?" she asked.

"I thought we could talk before school," Riley said, before quietly and hesitantly adding, "Sailor Venus. Or should I say Princess?" Christina scowled.

"How long have you known?" she asked icily.

"Could we just talk about it, please?" Christina sighed.

"Artie, we've got a guest here!" she called over her shoulder. Artie appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, his eyes widening as he saw who the guest was.

"You'd better come into the loungeroom and sit down," Christina said to Riley, opening the door wide and walking through the loungeroom without a backwards glance. When the three of them were seated on the couch, Christina said,

"Now, same question: how long have you known about me?"

"He knows?!?" Artie exclaimed, staring at Riley.

"Yeah. I had my suspiscions months ago, when you started disappearing from parties and stuff, and then I'd hear about Sailor V turning up. The timelines were too close to be coincidental. But my suspiscions were confirmed yesterday, when I saw that white cat announcing you. I recognised it as the one that followed you last year, back before reports of Sailor V started appearing," Riley said. Christina couldn't help smiling as she remembered her first encounter with Artemis.

________________________________________________________________________________

"_Riley, I wish you'd stop annoying me!"_

"_I'm not."_

"_You are!"_

"_Am not."_

"_Are too!" Christina couldn't help sighing as her cousin's shrieks echoed from the back of the bus. She had been pleased that Steph was taking her bus to go visit Bonnie, but had not been banking on Steph's sworn enemy being on the bus at the same time. She shook her head and stared absently out the window, trying to block the noise from her mind._

"_Am not!"_

"_Are too!"_

"_Am not!"_

"_Are too!"_

"_Can it, you guys! You're giving me a headache!" Christina yelled, silencing the bickering. She sighed and turned back to the window as the bus slowed near a bus shelter. As the bus pulled up, Christina noticed a white cat with a gold crescent moon on its forehead sitting on top of the bus shelter. The cat was staring straight at her, and its cerulean-blue eyes seemed to be analysing her very soul. Christina shivered and turned away from the window, only to see the cat jump through the open bus doors and sit down on the seat opposite her, directly behind the bus driver. It turned its gaze on her once more and she turned away, resolutely trying to ignore the cat. She absently waved goodbye to Steph, still focusing on ignoring the cat. She couldn't help glancing back at it every now and again, and every time she found that it was still staring at her. _What's with this cat?_ Christina wondered, turning and watching the cat, who seemed to smile and nod when she began to take notice of it. Somehow, it seemed a little less creepy that it had before, so she continued to look at it. She could not bring herself to look into its piercing blue eyes, though. The bus finally began to pull up at Christina's stop, so she gathered her things and got off, noticing that the cat also got off the bus at the same time. She looked up and noticed that Riley was watching them, and she frowned and shrugged at him to tell him that she had no idea what the cat was doing. Christina turned and walked home, stopping every few steps to turn and look at the cat, who was still following her. She had the strange feeling that the cat was playing a game with her. Whenever she stopped walking and turned around to look at the cat, it stopped walking and stared at her._

"_Go home kitty. Go on, scat," Christna said, waving her hand at the cat, who blinked expectantly back at her. Christina shook her head in defeat and walked the rest of the way home, the cat following all the way. Christina unlocked the door and glanced back at the cat, who stepped forward. _It must be expecting to be allowed inside,_ Christina thought. She hurried inside and shut the door before the cat could get in, then looked through the peephole to see that the cat was walking away. Sighing with relief, she put her bag in her room, then went into the kitchen and pulled out a packet of chips. Munching happily, she walked back into her bedroom and changed into her favourite orange summer dress and white sandals and turned her laptop on. She then opened the curtains and jumped in surprise: the cat was now sitting on her bedroom windowsill. The cat began pawing at the window, attempting to open it. Christina shook her head at the cat, then shut the curtains again, thinking that she'd rather have the light on than have the cat staring at her._

"_Hi, honey! How was school?" Christina's mum called, shutting the front door and walking through to Christina's bedroom._

"_Yeah, pretty good," Christina said._

"_What do you know?"_

"_Oh, not much."_

"_Well, you're a mine of information, aren't you. And what are you doing now?"_

"_Not much."_

"_Well, open your curtains and finish those chips, then get down to homework."_

"_Mum, today was the last day of school, remember?"_

"_Oh, yes. What are we going to have for tea?"_

"_Ummm... I dunno. Spaghetti Bolognaise?"_

"_Oh yeah, I suppose we could have that. Open your curtains while I go get tea started," Mrs Aino said, shutting the door behind her. Christina sighed and peeped out the curtains, frowning when she saw that the cat was still there. Christina opened the curtains and turned away, putting a DVD in her laptop and playing it, aware that the cat was still watching her from the windowsill. She glanced at the cat, who had begun pawing at the window again. Christina shook her head and turned the volume up, which prevented her from hearing the window creak open. She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked up to find the cat standing on the desk beside her, almost nose to nose with her. Christina shrieked and jumped backwards, falling out of her chair and onto the floor. She sat up and stared at the cat, who was still standing beside her laptop._

"_How'd you get in? I'm sure that window was shut," Christina said, scrambling to her feet and walking over to the window. She examined the lock, but could not find any reason why it could have opened._

"_The lock's not broken, Christina. I opened it," a male voice said. Christina whirled around, searching for the source of the voice._

"_It's OK, Christina, don't be afraid. I've been looking for you for quite a long time," the voice said again. Christina stared at the cat, who jumped off the desk and landed on Christina's shoulder._

"_My name is Artemis. I'm very pleased to meet you, Christina," the cat said into her ear._

"_W-what do you mean, you've been looking for me?" Christina whispered, looking at Artemis._

"_You, Christina, are a very special, powerful person," Artemis began, before a loud siren reached their ears._

"_That sounds like the police. Here's a way that I can explain. Here, take this pen, hold it up and say, 'Moon Power, Transform!'" Artemis said, doing a backflip and creating a white-and-gold pen. Christina picked the pen up and examined it, then looked at Artemis and nodded._

"_Moon Power, Transform!" Orange light shot out of the pen, making her hair waist-length and changing her dress into a white-pink-and-blue school uniform and her white sandals into blue high-heels. The light then formed a pair of white gloves with orange bands at the elbow, a red bow in her hair, a white choker with a gold crescent moon on her neck, a red mask over her eyes and a gold crescent moon on her forehead. Christina twirled around and posed, making a V for Victory sign. Then she gasped._

"_What the...? What's going on?" Christina asked, examining her outfit. _

"_You've transformed into your Sailor Scout form: Sailor V. Don't worry, just follow your instinct," Artemis said. Sailor V nodded, then locked her bedroom door and jumped out the window, off to stop her first burglar._

________________________________________________________________________________

"Hmmm... Well, all that aside, why did you come here?" Artie asked.

"I wanted to talk to you, Princess," Riley said.

"Riley, I'm not the Princess in this form. I'm just an ordinary girl when I'm untransformed. Just like you're just an ordinary guy when you're untransformed," Christina said.

"So you know that I'm..."

"Tuxedo Mask? Yes. I know. So does Artie. And if you know what's good for you, I suggest you stay away from Sailor Moon," Christina said, getting to her feet.

"Wait, I just want to know one more thing. Why did that other General, the female one, call me 'Endymion'? What does that mean?" Christina looked at him for a moment before saying,

"You'll find out. It's only a matter of time. Until you understand, stay away from Sailor Moon. And stay away from me and my friends, too," she added, before picking up her schoolbag and walking out the front door, leaving Riley and Artie sitting on the couch. Riley sighed and stood up.

"Well, I'd better get going or I'll be late for school," he said.

"I'd do what Christina says, you know. She can get pretty cranky if you don't," Artie called, watching as Riley walked out the front door.

"Man, I hope he listens to us. Things could get very nasty otherwise," Artie said, shaking his head and sighing.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Artemis, I've been thinking... since it's my birthday this weekend, do you think I could have a dress up party with Steph, Bonnie, Dee and Phoenix?" Christina asked, sitting down under a tree on the far side of the school oval. Artie frowned.

"What sort of a dress up party, Christina?"

"Well... I'm not really sure, to be honest. I've been tossing up a few different ideas, but I haven't really decided anything yet," Christina said.

"Are you going to call Steph and the others now, or wait until you get home?" Artie asked.

"First we need to decide where we're going to have the party. Should we have it at home, or maybe at the bowling alley? Although, if we have it at the bowling alley, there's likely to be reporters and people wanting interviews, considering what happened yesterday at the cinema," Christina said.

"What about Macey's Bistro in the side party room?" Artie asked. Christina smiled.

"Artemis, that's perfect! I'll call Macey's, then I'll call Stephy and the others," Christina said, pulling out her phone and smiling at the Venus symbol on it, before flipping it open and pressing a few buttons.

"Hello? Yes, I was wondering, is the party room free this Saturday between about 6:30 and 9:30 PM? ...Great! Could I book that for those times, please? ...Aino. ...Yes, Aino, A-I-N-O. ...OK, thanks. Bye." Christina pressed a button on her phone and smiled at Artemis.

"Well, that's all set! I'd better ring Stephy and the others now," she said.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Hi Bonnie! Hi Dee! Hi Nixx!" Steph called, running down the steps into the Base. Steph stopped at the foot of the stairs and stared: fire, ice and electricity were flying in a circle around the room. At the centre of the circle were Bonnie, Dee and Phoenix, who were watching the elements and laughing with pleasure.

"Yeah! I won!" Bonnie shouted, defrosting her ice and sending it back into the empty bottle on the table.

"Only 'cause you put my fire out earlier," Dee said, smiling and letting her fire go out. Phoenix's electricity fizzled out of existence, and the three girls smiled at Steph.

"Where's Luna?" Dee asked.

"I'm not sure. She was going to see if she could sense Sailor Venus when she's detransformed, but she should be back by now," Steph said.

"Maybe we should go look for her," Phoenix said.

"Yeah. But she did say that she had a big surprise to show us, so maybe one of us should wait here and call if she comes while we're gone,"

"I'm sure she'll call if she gets here before we get back," Bonnie said.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Let's go see if we can find her," Steph said,

________________________________________________________________________________

_Gee, I'm hungry. Maybe I should have grabbed some ice cream before I left,_ Steph thought. A buzzing reached her ears, and she looked in her bag to find her phone flashing. She pulled it out, flipped it open and pressed a button.

"Hello? ...Oh, hey, Chrissy! ...Your birthday party? Sounds cool! ...Oh, really? Well, did you see the newspapers this morning? ...Yeah, them. We could dress up like them. ...Yeah, good point... ...Oh, I know. What about Princess Sailor Venus? ...Yeah. Have you got a pen and paper? ...OK, she looks like the others, except her shirt, choker, collar and back bow are orange, her front bow is navy blue, she's got orange bands on her gloves, a red bow in her hair, a- ...Yeah, like Sailor V's. ...She has a crescent moon on her forehead, and a crown in her hair. Oh, and her shoes are like Mars', except they're orange, and they've got a band attached to the back that goes around your ankle. ...Oh, I, ummm... I followed the other Scouts and saw her, too. ...I'll go as Sailor Moon. ...Sure, I'll tell them. ...Oh, I'm sure they'll be able to decide. ...OK. See you there, then. Bye," Steph said, pressing a button and slipping her phone back in her bag.

"I don't know that the Princess would be very happy with you letting someone else dress up like her," a voice said. Steph turned to find a young girl in a purple top and a yellow skirt jumping over a skipping rope, her midnight blue, odango-style hair bouncing as she skipped.

"Who are you? And how do you know about the Princess?" Steph asked.

"You don't recognise me? Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. In this form, my name is Lucy," the girl said, pausing in her skipping.

"What do you mean, 'in this form'? Who are you?" Steph asked. The girl giggled.

"I told you, my name's Lucy. And it's not really a good idea to be telling civilians about the Princess, or to be using your Scout form for dress up parties," the girl said, pointing the handle of her skipping rope at Steph. "Although I suppose it couldn't hurt to be ready if a Youma decided to show up," she added, tapping the other handle thoughtfully against her chin.

"Lucy, how do you know about all of this?" Steph asked.

"Well, since you asked, I suppose I'd better answer. You know me in my other form. That's the only way you've ever seen me before. When I'm in my normal form, you know me as-" Lucy froze as a bark resounded through the air, and a small poodle came running at them. Lucy took one look at the poodle, screamed and ran.

_What the...? What was that about?_ Steph wondered, watching as the poodle followed the girl, barking madly. _Who is she?_

________________________________________________________________________________

"Where could Luna be?" Dee asked, looking around.

"Dunno. Maybe she's found something," Bonnie said. The two girls walked through Lake Pertobe, remembering the previous day, when Bonnie and Steph had defeated the balloon-like youma.

"Sheesh, that youma was so weak," Bonnie remarked.

"What'cha doing, Mercury? Mars?" a voice said cheerfully. The girls turned to find a young girl riding a swing set, her purple top, yellow skirt and midnight-blue, odango-style hair flying out behind her as she swung.

"Who are you? And how do you know about us?" Bonnie asked. The girl smiled.

"I'm Lucy. Well, at least when I'm like this. Normally, I'm-" Lucy stopped and sniffed the air as the smell of fried fish came wafting over to them from a nearby barbeque. Lucy squealed with delight, jumped up and ran off, following the scent.

"Well, someone certainly likes fish," Dee remarked, watching as Lucy begged the picnickers for some fish.

"Yeah. But how did she know that I'm Mercury and you're Mars?" Bonnie wondered aloud.

"Hmm. I dunno. We should probably talk to Luna and the others about this," Dee said. Bonnie nodded in agreement.

________________________________________________________________________________

_Where could Luna have got to?_ Phoenix wondered, looking around the Gateway Plaza car park. She glanced at the shopping plaza and smiled, remembering the first time she had transformed into Sailor Jupiter. That sure was amazing, she thought.

"What'cha thinking about, Jupiter? Your first transformation?" a voice said. Phoenix turned to find a small girl with midnight-blue, odango-style hair riding a tricycle towards her, the purple and yellow tricycle exactly matching the colour of her top and skirt. "My name's Lucy," the girl said.

"How do you know that I'm Jupiter?" Phoenix asked, staring at the girl. Lucy moved her trike out of the way of a passing car, then smiled at Phoenix.

"I'm actually..." Lucy trailed off as the cloud of dust kicked up by the passing car got up both her and Phoenix's noses, and both sneezed. When Phoenix looked up again, Lucy had vanished, leaving her purple-and-yellow trike sitting in the middle of the carpark. Phoenix picked it up and moved it aside, wondering what to do with it. _How did that girl know I'm Jupiter?_ she wondered, sitting the trike down out of the way of cars. _Maybe I should call the others and let them know..._ Just then, Phoenix felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out and pressed a button.

"Hello?"

"Nixx, have you found her yet?"

"Not yet, Steph. What about you?"

"Nope, nothing. Although..."

"What?"

"Well, there was this little girl... She was wearing a purple top and a yellow skirt and she seemed to know quite a lot about us."

"Really? Did she have blue hair?"

"Yeah. Wait did you run into her too?"

"Yeah. She knew I was Jupiter."

"That sounds like the girl that Dee and I ran into, doesn't it, Dee?" Bonnie said, joining in on the conversation.

"Yeah, it does. She knew that I'm Mars and Bonnie's Mercury," Dee said.

"Well, I suggest we get back to base and talk about it there, OK?" Steph said.

"Sure. See you there, then," Phoenix said, pressing a button on her phone and slipping it back into her pocket. She glanced at the trike, then began walking back into town.

________________________________________________________________________________

"I wish I knew where she was, I'm starting to get worried," Bonnie said, looking thoughtfully around the bowling alley car park.

"Yeah, same here," Dee said.

"Hi guys, any luck?" Steph called. Bonnie and Dee looked up to see Steph and Phoenix running towards them.

"Unfortunately, no," Bonnie said.

"Maybe she's waiting for us inside," Phoenix said. Steph nodded and opened the door, and the four of them hurried inside and down the stairs, where they found Luna sitting at her computer.

"Luna! Where've you been, we've been looking everywhere for you!" Steph exclaimed. Luna pulled off her headset and turned to them.

"First off, you're late. And secondly, I've been right under your noses the whole time," Luna said.

"What do you mean, Luna? Were you hiding on us or something?" Dee asked.

"No, I wasn't hiding," Luna said, clearly amused by the girls' confusion.

"Then what? Can you just tell us and put us out of our suspense?" Bonnie said. Luna smiled wider, then somersaulted off the table. There was a flash of white light, and then the girls gasped.

"Told you I'd been around the entire time," Luna said, smiling at them.

"I... I don't believe it! Luna... You're Lucy?" Steph gasped. Lucy grinned and nodded.

"Well, at least that's one mystery solved," Phoenix said, looking at Lucy's black tail, which was poking out from under her skirt. _I wonder why we never noticed that before, _Phoenix thought.

"Now, about that party," Lucy began.

"Party? What party?" Bonnie, Dee and Phoenix asked.

"Oh, yeah, I completely forgot with the whole Lucy mystery. Chrissy's having a dress up party for her birthday this Saturday. She asked me to tell you," Steph said.

"So what's the theme?" Bonnie asked.

"She decided to have a Sailor Scout dress up," Steph said.

"OK... but who's she going to go as?" Phoenix asked.

"Steph suggested to her that he could go as Princess Sailor Venus, which I wasn't too happy about. But, I suppose there's no changing that now, so I've decided to go to the party with you," Luna said, reaching down beside her computer and pulling out a crescent-moon-shaped sticker and a headband with a pair of fluffy black cat ears attached.

"Good idea, Luna. Ooh, this is going to be a great party! I can't wait until Saturday, can you?" Steph said, grinning. The others nodded in agreement and smiled.

________________________________________________________________________________

"I'm glad you were able to teach me how to change the appearance of my Silver Crystal Tiara and my Crescent Moon, Artemis," Christina said, hanging up some orange streamers. Artie smiled and stuck a few balloons to the wall.

"Yeah. You'd better transform and change it now, before the others get here," Artie said, pulling out his tail and putting his cat-ear headband on. Christina nodded and pulled out her orange-and-gold transformation pen.

"Venus Power!" Orange love hearts burst from the pen, transforming Christina into Princess Sailor Venus. She reached up and touched the Crystal in her Tiara, then clicked her fingers. The Tiara glowed with a soft orange light and turned into a plastic tiara with the words "Birthday Girl" on it. Christina then did the same thing with the Crescent Moon on her forehead, which disappeared, leaving a face-paint-like, Crescent-Moon-shaped mark. Artie looked up as he heard a faint trickle of conversation from outside.

"That sounds like them," he said.

"You wait here, I'll go get them," Christina said, walking out the door of the party room and past the restaurant patrons, who stared curiously at her. Christina stepped outside and peeked around a corner, where she could see Steph, Bonnie, Dee and Phoenix dressed in their normal clothes and talking to a small girl wearing purple and yellow. Christina smiled when she saw that the girl was wearing a headband similar to Artie's. _Luna came too,_ she thought. Christina watched as her four friends pulled out their transformation items.

"Moon Prism Power!"

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!" The car park lit up with pink, blue, red and green, then the five girls stepped around the corner to find Sailor Venus leaning against the wall waiting for them.

"P-Princess! What are you doing here?" Sailor Moon gasped. Christina giggled.

"Hi, Stephy. I take it I did a good job on my costume, then?" she said. Mars gasped.

"Christina? Wow, yeah, you did do a good job on your costume. Except for the Tiara and the Crescent Moon, everything looks like the real thing!" she said.

"Anyway, let's get inside. It's getting cold out here, and this outfit isn't exactly suitable for cold weather," Sailor Venus said. The six girls walked inside, attracting more curious looks, as well as some shocked and worried ones. They walked into the party room and shut the door, then sat down at the table that Artie and Christina had set up.

"Hey Artie, how are you?" Sailor Jupiter asked.

"Phoenix? Wow, great costumes, guys! You all look exactly like the Scouts!" Artie said.

"Artie, Chrissy, I'd like to introduce our friend Lucy," Sailor Moon said. Artie and Lucy stared at each other in surprise.

"So, tell me guys, what's it like being superheroes?" Christina asked.

"Who, us? We're just dressed up, we're not really the Sailor Scouts," Sailor Moon said.

"Come on, Stephy, how dumb do you think I am? For one, you look exactly like the Scouts, something that's kinda impossible if you're just dressed up. And secondly, you guys talk about what happened during a fight, which would be kinda impossible to know if you were hiding," Christina said.

"Well, I... Um..." Sailor Moon trailed off, unable to think of anything to say.

"So go on, tell me, what's it like being superheroes?" Christina pressed.

"Well, we may as well tell you, since you figured it out. It's kinda cool, but it's also really exhausting," Mercury said. Christina giggled.

"Yeah, I bet. And what do you think of Princess Sailor Venus? I mean the real one," Christina asked, trying to hide the worry in her eyes and voice.

"Well, she seems nice enough, but she's not very nice to Tuxedo Mask. She talks to him in a really cold tone, and when we were out at Gateway, she almost hit him and me with one of her Crescent Beams," Sailor Moon said.

"Let me guess, you like Tuxedo Mask, don't you, Stephy?" Christina asked. Sailor Moon went pink and looked away.

"I knew it. So... Do you know who he is?" Sailor Venus asked.

"I'd laugh if he was Riley," Mercury said.

"I think I'd cry," Sailor Moon said. The others looked at each other and burst into giggles. Their laughter was cut short as a scream reached their ears, and they looked through the glass doors to see a tall youma standing in the middle of the restaurant.

"Let's go!" Sailor Moon said, getting to her feet. The five Scouts got to their feet, but Artie and Lucy pushed Christina back into her seat.

"Let me go! I have to help them!" she ordered, glaring at the two.

"No, Christina, you can't!" Artie said.

"It's their fight, not yours!" Lucy said.

"But..."

"NO!" Artie and Lucy chorused. Christina stared after the others for a moment, before throwing their arms off of her and getting to her feet.

"I don't care. I've had enough of those stupid Nega-creeps getting in our way," she said, before marching out to join the fight.

"She... She just called them 'Nega-creeps'... Artie... Is she... Are you..." Lucy stuttered. Artie only nodded in reply and frowned sadly.

"P-Princess..." Lucy whispered, looking out at the demolished restaurant.

________________________________________________________________________________

"We've got to get it outside, Sailor Moon! It's doing too much damage!" Jupiter shouted.

"Right!" Sailor Moon called back, and let loose with a massive kick, throwing the youma through an open window and out into the street. The four scouts jumped out the window after it and began attacking.

"Moon Tiara..."

"Mercury Bubbles...

"Mars Fire..."

"Supreme..."

"Magic!" "Blast!" "Ignite!" "Thunder!" the four attacks merged and flew towards the youma, which conjured up something resembling a baseball bat. It swung its bat at the flaming, crackling, bubbling tiara and sent it flying back towards the Scouts, who shrieked and tried to get out of the way. The attacks separated again, and each Scout was struck by her own attack and fell to the ground. The youma snickered and advanced towards them, then stopped as a Christina jumped out of the window and landed between the youma and the other scouts.

"Chrissy, no! What are you doing?" Sailor Moon shrieked

"Christina, quick, get out of here before it gets you!" Mercury yelled. Christina sighed.

"I never meant for you to find out this way, guys," she said, before turning back to the Youma. She reached up and touched her tiara and her forehead, clicked her fingers, then closed her eyes as the tiara and the crescent-moon mark on her forehead began to glow orange. When the glowing stopped, the Scouts gasped at what they saw: the 'Birthday Girl' tiara was now the Silver Crystal Tiara, and the crescent moon mark on her forehead was now the proper Lunarian symbol.

"Ch-Chrissy..." Sailor Moon said weakly.

"Christina is..." Mercury whispered.

"Princess..." Mars continued.

"Sailor Venus," Jupiter finished. Sailor Venus drew herself up to her full height and pointed at the youma.

"I'm sick and tired of you stupid Nega-creeps ruining everything! It's time to take you down! I'm Sailor Venus! And in the name of Venus, I shall destroy you! Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" Sailor Venus yelled, sending a beam of yellow light flying through the air and striking the youma, which yowled in pain. Sailor Venus turned to the others.

"Are you OK, guys?" she asked, helping them to their feet. The girls only nodded, still staring at their friend.

"P-Princess..." Sailor Moon whispered. Sailor Venus chose to ignore the shock in her cousin's tone.

"Let's attack together, OK guys?" Sailor Venus said, snapping her fingers and making her tiara glow. The others nodded slowly as new attacks began to form in their minds.

"Venus Crescent Beam...

"Moon Twighlight.."

"Mercury Aqua...

"Akuryo..."

"Flower..."

"Smash!" "Flash!" "Illusion!" "Taisan!" "Hurricane!" Sailor Moon's tiara created several silver-and-pink glowing orbs, Mercury whirled her arms and created a stream of half-frozen hailstones, Mars cupped her hands and released a flurry of burning spirit-expelling paper, and Jupiter twirled around and created a flurry of pink-and-green flower petals. The four new attacks merged with Venus' Crescent Beam to create a glowing, multi-coloured rope, which wrapped round the youma and tied it up. The youma screeched in pain from the rope, then both the youma and the rope disintegrated into dust. Sailor Venus sighed in relief, then yelped as she felt the Tiara snatched from her head. She looked up to see the female general from the previous day floating in the air and examining the Tiara with glee.

"Hey, give that back, you Nega-creep, before you seriously regret it," Sailor Venus shouted.

"Hmmm, and what are you going to do about it, little Princess?" the General asked amusedly.

"We'll handle this Princess! Moon Twilight..." Sailor Moon shouted

"Forget it, Sailor Moon, just get down! All of you, get down!" Sailor Venus yelled. She twirled around on the spot and then pointed at the Tiara, which began to glow orange. The General held it up in amazement, then screamed as the Tiara exploded, sending shards of hot metal flying everywhere. The General glared at Sailor Venus, blood trickling down her face.

"You... How could you destroy the Crystal?!?" she screeched. Sailor Venus grinned cheekily.

"Did you really think that I would be stupid enough to put the Crystal into a tiara and wear it? That was a fake, you stupid Nega-Baka! A trap designed especially for you and your friends. And you fell right into it!" Sailor Venus said, before bursting into laughter.

"Ooh, you little brat! You're going to pay for this! Give me the real Crystal before things get even worse for you!" The general screamed.

"Zoisite. You're wasting your time. This girl doesn't even have the Crystal," said a voice. The Scouts looked up and saw a tall, white-haired General appear beside the female one.

"Kunzite! What do you mean, you don't think she has the Crystal? She's the Princess, isn't she?" Zoisite asked.

"Zoisite, Queen Beryl-sama has informed me that the Silver Crystal was split into Seven Rainbow Crystals at the end of the Silver Milennium," Kunzite said.

"Really? Well then, I suppose we have no more business here," Zoisite said. Kunzite nodded and then both Generals disappeared.

"What was that all about, Princess?" Mars asked. Sailor Venus groaned a little and turned to her friends.

"Guys, I'm really not for all of that 'Princess' stuff. I'd rather you called me Christina or Sailor Venus. As to what that was about, well, I'm not sure. Let's get inside, it's getting dark out," Sailor Venus said. The others nodded and walked back inside, where they were greeted by applause and camera flashes.

"Darn, I knew this would happen. Artie, Lucy, we're going now," Sailor Venus called. Artie and Lucy poked their heads out of the party room and nodded.

"I thought we might be going. Lucy and I have been taking down the decorations," Artie said, holding out a garbage bag full of streamers and balloons. Sailor Venus nodded and turned to the others.

"Let's get going, guys. I've never been one for the media either," she said. The others nodded, then all seven leapt over the crowd of people and ran out the door.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Wow, what a day," Sailor Moon said, slumping onto the couch in Christina's lounge room. Mercury, Mars and Jupiter sat down next to her, while Artie and Lucy settled themselves on the floor. Sailor Venus walked around the house, drawing the curtains and locking the doors. Finally she detransformed, grabbed a bowl of chips and passed them around. For a while, the only sound was that of crunching chips and the whoosh of the other four scouts detransforming.

"Princess," Lucy began.

"Look, Luna, I really don't go for the whole 'Princess' title. I'd rather you just treated me like a normal friend," Christina said.

"You... I... But... You know who I am?" Lucy stuttered.

"Yeah. I figured it out pretty quickly when I saw you," Christina said.

"How?" Lucy asked. Christina sighed and looked at Artie.

"Artie, you may as well show them. They're bound to figure it out sooner or later anyways," she said. Artie nodded, then turned back into his cat form with a flash. All the girls except Christina gasped.

"Artemis! It is you! I thought you looked familiar in your human form," Lucy said, before turning back into her cat form too. The two cats smiled at each other, then jumped onto their charges' laps: Artemis on Christina's, Luna on Steph's. Christina began stroking Artemis absently, thinking about what she should do next.

"Christina, do you think... Could we could move in here with you?" Bonnie asked. Christina looked up.

"No!" she said sharply.

"But, Pri- Christina, it's our mission to protect you! Please!" Luna pleaded.

"No, Luna, I..." Christina trailed off as she realised how helpful having the Scouts living with her would be to their mission. "...Well, alright. When do you want to move in?"

"Wait a sec. What about your parents? Won't they be coming back from their extended holiday sometime?" Dee asked. Christina smiled.

"Dee, they're not really on an extended holiday. I sent them away so that they're safe from the Negaverse. Believe me, it wasn't easy. I had to tell them the truth about what was going on. I don't think I've ever seen them so surprised in my life as they were when I showed them that I was Sailor V. Luckily, I managed to convince them without having to have Artemis talk to them too. And I suggest that you send your parents away too, so the Negaverse doesn't use them as hostages," Christina said. The others nodded slowly, then jumped as a novelty clock sitting on the television began to play the theme from the Sailor V games.

"Eleven o'clock. Where's the day gone? We'd better get to bed. You're all welcome to stay over tonight and then get your stuff tomorrow," Christina said. The others nodded and smiled.

Yes, we'd all better get a good night's sleep, we need to start researching those Rainbow Crystals tomorrow," Artemis said.

"So... You really don't have the Silver Crystal? Those two from the Negaverse were telling the truth?" Phoenix asked. Christina and Artemis nodded.

"So how exactly are the Rainbow Crystals supposed to become the Silver Crystal?" Steph asked.

"Dunno. The one thing I do know is, the key to putting the Rainbow Crystals back together into the Silver Crystal is for the Princess to fully awaken," Artemis said, looking up at Christina, who nodded in agreement.

"Well, sounds like we've got a busy day tomorrow. There's enough beds for everyone, but one of you is going to have to sleep on the spare mattress in my room. What about you, Stephy? You wanna sleep in my room?" Christina asked.

"Sure!" Steph said, before smiling at her friends and going upstairs.

"The mattress is underneath my bed. It's already got a blanket on it," Christina called after her.

"I'll help her get it out," Artemis said, changing back into Artie with a flash. Luna got up and transformed too, and the two of them walked upstairs to Christina's room.

"Bonnie, Dee, Nixx, there's my Mum and Dad's queen size bed, and there's a single and a double in the spare room. I'll let you guys decide who's getting which bed. G'night, everyone," she said, before following Artie upstairs.

"Could I have the queen size?" Phoenix asked. Bonnie and Dee nodded, then looked at each other.

"I'll take the single if you want the double, Bonnie," Dee said. Bonnie smiled and nodded.

"Good thing we don't have to share beds, otherwise someone would probably end up on the floor. I seem to hog the entire bed," Bonnie said, smiling as she and Dee trooped off to their beds.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Well, I have to say, today was probably the most eventful birthday I've ever had. Well, except for last year, when I had to get up at three AM and stop a burglary," Christina said, smiling at Steph. Steph smiled back and snuggled down under the blankets. Luna curled up on the end of Steph's bed, and the two were soon fast asleep. Artemis jumped up onto Christina's bed and sighed.

"That wasn't very good judgement on your part today, Christina," he whispered.

"I know, but they're my friends, and she's... Come on, Artemis, I couldn't just abandon them," Christina said, watching the sleeping figure of her cousin.

"Why did you agree to let them stay, Christina?" Artemis asked.

"Well, I figured we'd be better able to protect them if they're here," Christina said. Artemis nodded knowingly, then the two of them settled down to sleep too.


	7. Mercury and the Blue Crystal

Hi! While writing my plan for Chapter 6, I realised that there's exactly seven days between my birthday and Christmas. So, because it's a really cool way to do it, I decided to make the seven Rainbow Crystals into a Christmas countdown! I hope you like this idea as much as I do!

Disclaimer:

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

I don't own Sailor Moon,

And neither do you*.

*This rule does not apply to Naoko Takeuchi.

* * *

"Christina, wake up," Artie whispered, shaking Christina, who rolled over and looked at him, blinking sleepily.

"What's the matter, Artemis? It's really early," Christina whispered back, glancing at the clock to see that it was 6:30.

"You need to get up and get ready. We're going to do some Scout Training at the Base," Artie whispered back.

"Why can't we do that later, at a more reasonable time? And what about the others? They'll be worried if I'm not here," Christina said, looking over at Steph and Luna, who were both still fast asleep.

"We need to wake them too. They could do with some Training too," Artie said.

"That's not very fair to them, you know. They've done really well so far. And I can kinda see their past forms emerging in them. Especially Steph, she's definitely developing the air that comes from her line. But anyway, what have you got planned for Training today?" Christina asked. Artie grinned, then whispered in Christina's ear. As she listened, a grin spread over Christina's face. She nodded to Artie, then quietly took a megaphone out of her wardrobe.

"Why do you have that in there, Christina?" Artie asked.

"My brother always played his music really loudly. This was the only way that we could get his attention," Christina said, before walking out into the passageway and opening the doors to the two other bedrooms. She smiled and winked at Artie, then raised the megaphone to her mouth.

"RISE AND SHINE, EVERYONE!!! IT'S TIME TO GET UP!!!!" Christina called into the megaphone. There were five thuds from the three bedrooms, and then the five girls (Lucy included) walked out into the passageway, rubbing their elbows, shins or heads.

"What's going on, Chrissy? Why are we getting up this early?" Steph asked.

"We've got Scout Training to do," Christina replied, smiling and walking back into her bedroom.

"What, right now?" Bonnie asked. Christina put the megaphone back in the cupboard and took out her favourite white, orange-and-white summer dress and a pair of matching white sandals.

"No time like the present. And besides, you're all a little behind my level, no offence," Christina said, walking back into the passageway. She opened the linen cupboard and began pulling out towels.

"What do you mean, 'we're a little behind your level?' Just because you're more experienced than we are..." Dee said, catching the red towel that Christina threw to her.

"I'm not talking experience here. But that's beside the point. We've got Scout Training in two hours at the Base, so you'd better get ready. Help yourselves to any of my clothes, guys. Just stick whatever you use in the laundry basket once you're finished with it and have gotten your own clothes from home. There's a few things that I need to get before I go to the Base, so I'll meet you there at 8:30," Christina said, before walking into one of the two bathrooms and shutting the door behind her. The others sighed and went downstairs to fix themselves breakfast.

* * *

"Where is she?" Phoenix asked.

"Dunno, maybe she's inside already?" Steph replied, looking around.

"Hello there, Meatball Head. Who are you waiting for?" a familiar voice called. Steph whirled around, her eyes blazing at the voice.

"None of your business, Riley-Baka. Go away. And stop calling me Meatball Head!" Steph yelled.

"What's going on out here?" Christina asked, emerging from the Bowling Alley with a large bag in her hands and Artemis by her side. Both Christina and Artemis stopped when they saw Riley. Christina tilted her head in suspicion and glared coldly at Riley for a moment.

"Riley. What are you doing here?" Christina asked, placing the lightest emphasis on the _you_.

"Just passing by, Christina. I'll see you around, everyone," Riley said, before walking away. Christina watched him go, then sighed and pulled out her Transformation Pen. She clasped it for a moment, then opened the door to the Base and led the others inside.

"How'd you know how to get in here, Chrissy?" Steph asked.

"Are you kidding? I've known about this place for ages. It was actually me that remodelled it. The whole thing was this dull greyish-black before I got started on it. Artemis didn't really approve at first, 'cause he thought I should be Training, but we turned the redecoration into a series of Training Sessions, and, well, it turned out like this. I'm pretty pleased with it, actually," Christina said, dropping the heavy bag onto the floor beside the couch and sitting down. Luna and Artemis transformed into their human forms and sat down on the couch to watch.

"So what are we doing today?" Dee asked. Christina smiled and opened the bag, which contained five wooden targets, a lot of curved metal rods, ten metal hoops, seven bottles of water, a fluorescent-orange whistle on a string, a bag of tennis balls and, oddly, five large silver butterfly nets and a glass box full of fast, glittery butterflies. Christina put the whistle around her neck and tossed a bottle of water to each of the others.

"Let's see how good your aim is first," Christina said, setting up the wooden targets against the blue wall and stepping back.

"Hey, Luna? I've been wondering... I know that I can hear when people are in danger, but what other Civilian Powers do I have?" Steph asked.

"Yeah, I've been wondering that too," Bonnie said.

"You haven't told her that yet, Luna? Wow, I would have thought that would be one of the first things you would have done in Training," Christina said.

"Yes, well, we got a little preoccupied with training the others. Steph, you're Telekinetic," Lucy replied. Bonnie, Dee and Phoenix gasped, while Steph only looked puzzled.

"Teleki-what?"

"You know how we can levitate our elements? Well, you can levitate anything, Steph!" Bonnie said, smiling. Steph gasped.

"Well, there's a little more to it than that. Basically, you can control the movement of your target using only your mind. Try it, Steph. Try looking at something around the room and send your thoughts out to it to make it do something," Lucy said. Steph nodded glanced around the room to pick a target, before deciding on the bottle of water in her hand. Everyone watched as the lid slowly turned and fell onto the floor with a clatter.

"Well done, Stephy! It's a start, a definite start. You could probably get better control by using your hands as well, but you're not necessarily going to able to use your hands when you need to use your power," Christina said. Steph nodded and smiled, staring down at the lid, which floated up and screwed back onto the bottle. "OK, now that you're all starting to get the hang of your Civilian Powers, it's time for some target practice," Christina said, fitting two of the metal rods together. While the other four Scouts began using either their element or, in Steph's case, the tennis balls to hit the targets, Christina fitted the metal rods together into a complicated circular track. She then fitted the ten metal hoops onto the track in various places and pressed a tiny button on each, which set them moving around the track at various speeds. Stepping back to survey her handiwork, she narrowly missed being hit by a flame that came flying in her direction. Turning, she found Dee red-faced and grinning.

"Oops, sorry, Christina," Dee said. Christina shook her head, grinning, before giving a short blast on her whistle.

"OK, guys, let's see how you've done," Christina called out, walking over to examine the girls' targets. The marks on all four(tufts of tennis ball fluff on Steph's, deep cuts on Bonnie's and scorch marks on both Dee's and Phoenix's) were rather spread out, but Christina was pleased to see that there were no marks on the wall or floor.

"Nice job, guys. Once you awaken a bit more, you'll be able to get the middle all the time. Like this," Christina said, winking. Three silver-and-orange arrows appeared in mid-air, and, at Christina's look, flew, one after another, into the bullseye on the fifth target.

"Wow, that's amazing, Chrissy!" Steph gasped.

"What are those arrows, anyway?" Dee asked, bending down to examine them.

"You've heard of Cupid, right? Well, basically mine can make people fall in love, or out of love. They're also killer on Youma, as I found out once," Christina said.

"Really? That must be an interesting story," Phoenix said.

"Not really. There was this girl in my grade who loved this other guy. I thought they'd be perfect together, so I tried to make him like her too. Turns out he was possessed by a Youma. Not only did I destroy the Youma, but the arrow still had enough power to make him pay attention to her, and then he ended up falling in love with her the normal way," Christina shrugged.

"Nice... So, what's next?" Bonnie asked. Christina smiled.

"Next we'll try moving targets," she said, indicating the moving rings and the track.

"Hey, that's cool!" Dee said, watching the fastest ring whizz around the track.

"These rings all have sensors set into them. If one of your aims goes through the ring, it'll stop," Christina said.

"How are you supposed to get that ring?" Dee asked, pointing to the fastest one.

"That one's tricky. I've only ever gotten that one once. Artemis told me that once we've completely awoken, we'll be able to get that one easily," Christina said, looking at the ring. Another of her arrows appeared and flew towards the ring, missing by millimetres and going through another ring. That ring turned orange and came to an abrupt stop, then folded up into a small orange spike on the tracks. Then, suddenly, millimetres from the wall, the arrow vanished. Christina pressed the tiny button on the spike and watched it unfold and fade back to its normal silver, then let it get back up to speed.

"OK guys, it's your turn. Did you notice how the ring turned orange when my arrow went through it? They'll react to your powers too. The sensors on these things are super sensitive, so they'll be able to tell which of us got through it," Christina said.

"Hey, that's cool," Dee said.

"Yeah. So go ahead guys, take your best shot at the rings. They're numbered one to ten, with one being the slowest and ten being the fastest, which is that tricky one. Once you've stopped as many hoops as you can, I'll check the numbers and we'll see who did the best," Christina said. The others nodded and used their abilities to take aim at the rings. Christina nodded, and a volley of tennis balls, water, fire and electricity rained down on the rings. Two changed colour right away and folded up, while other shots came extremely close and bounced off the ring instead of going in. the rings continued their journey around the path, and the girls noticed that some rings were coloured in places where attacks had bounced off. Christina blew on her whistle again and grinned at her friends, who had managed to stop all the rings, including number ten. Christina knelt down and pulled a pink spike from the track to examine it.

"Number 5. Not bad, Stephy," she smiled, handing the spike to Steph, who smiled. Christina continued pulling spikes off, until all of the rings were sorted. Phoenix had gotten rings 6 and 7, giving her a total of 13. Dee had gotten numbers 4 and 9, also giving her a total of 13. Steph was quite pleased that she had gotten three rings: 1, 5 and 8, giving her a total of 14. Bonnie also had three rings: 2, 3 and the infamous 10, giving her a grand total of 15 points.

"Wow, you got the ten, Bonnie! Awesome!" Dee gasped. Christina nodded her approval.

"I noticed how you got that ring, Bonnie. That was clever, using three streams of water instead of just one," she said. While Bonnie was high-fiving the other three girls, Christina studied Bonnie carefully. Artie noticed this, and changed back into his cat form to jump onto Christina's shoulder.

"What are you thinking, Christina?" Artemis whispered in his charge's ear.

"I think she might be the first one, Artemis," Christina whispered back.

"You think so?" Artemis asked. Christina nodded.

"She's certainly quite advanced for someone who's only just started training with the ring course. I mean, it took me weeks to be able to get number 7, and she got number 10 on her first try. She's good. Which is why I reckon she's close," Christina said. She glanced over at the wooden targets, noting that most of the cuts on Bonnie's were quite closely grouped, even if none of them were close to the bullseye. Christina nodded solemnly and smiled at her friends. Artemis jumped off her shoulder and transformed again, knowing how wild the next activity could get.

"Well, I guess that means you win, Bonnie," Christina said.

"Excellent! What's next?" Bonnie asked. Christina picked up the box of butterflies and the butterfly nets.

"Next we have some fun! We'll do some butterfly catching!" Christina grinned.

"How is this actually training us?" Phoenix asked.

"This is basically training reflexes and eyesight at the same time. These butterflies are specially designed to go extra-fast, and their wings make really pretty colours, but they can occasionally be hard to see. But that all adds to the fun!" Christina said, walking over to the staircase and pressing a hidden button on the orange wall. A large fly screen slid out of a hidden compartment and blocked the stairs off, preventing any butterfly escapes. Christina pressed another button, and small silver clamps emerged around the frame of the fly screen, holding it in place. Satisfied, Christina handed a butterfly net to each of the other Scouts.

"Now just remember, these little guys are fine in their box, but they can't hang on to the nets. So make sure you let your butterflies go once you've caught them," Christina said, before opening the box of butterflies, which flew out of the box faster than the girls could blink. Immediately, the room was filled with whoops of laughter and excitement as the girls began chasing butterflies. Christina smiled at them, then, after quickly packing up the track, joined in. Artie sat back down on the couch and watched Dee swiping furiously at a butterfly, which kept flying close to her net and then darting away.

"I think Christina might be right, Luna. Bonnie is definitely improving," Artie said, noticing that Bonnie was sneaking up on a butterfly that was fluttering on the blue wall.

"Hey, I got one!" Steph cheered.

"Do you think she'll awaken first, do you?" Lucy asked.

"Oh, darn! I almost got it!" Phoenix said.

"Christina thinks so," Artie said.

"Got one! ...Oh, wait, that's just a cobweb..." Dee said, picking the shreds off of her net.

"And what about you?" Lucy pressed.

"Look over there guys, near the ice cream mike! There's a whole bunch of them!" Christina called.

"I'm inclined to agree with Christina. It does seem likely," Artie said, waving away a butterfly.

"Yeah! I just got two in one go!" Bonnie cheered.

"We'd better keep an eye on her especially, then," Lucy said solemnly.

"Hey! There's one!" Steph yelled from behind the couch. Lucy jumped as a net suddenly came down over her head. Lucy gently blew the target butterfly out of her face and turned to find Steph

biting her lip, red-faced.

"Whoops, sorry, Luna," Steph said, lifting the net away. Lucy shook her head and giggled.

"Just make sure not to capture any of your allies when you're in a battle," she said. Artie pulled out a silver whistle and blew it, and all the butterflies flew back into their glass box. Christina clipped the box shut and put it back in her bag.

"OK, guys, that's enough for today. That was fun, wasn't it," Christina said, taking back the nets.

"Yeah!" the others chorused.

"Well, we'll be sure to put it in future Training sessions, won't we, Artemis," Christina said, looking at Artie, who nodded. Just then, the computer beeped loudly, startling everyone. Lucy frowned and turned the computer on to find a map on the screen with a pulsing black spot on it.

"What's this, Luna?" Steph asked.

"I created this to help predict where the Negaverse will attack next. Unfortunately, it's not very helpful, because it only indicates where the next attack will be, not when," Lucy said.

"Hey, that's over at Aquazone!" Dee said, looking at the map.

"Oh, no! One of my friends was going to take a bunch of his friends there since it's supposed to be really hot all this week!" Bonnie said, her eyes widening.

"Ooh, what's this, Bonnie? Is this 'He' someone special?" Christina asked, her eyes twinkling. Bonnie blinked at her for a second, then went purple.

"Oh shush. No, he's just a good friend of mine, hardly any different from you guys," Bonnie said.

"Besides, Chrissy, you've got male friends too, remember? You're not the only one who's allowed to be friends with boys," Steph said. Christina rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, Bonnie, I think you should try and be a part of that group of friends that goes down to Aquazone. That way you can keep an eye out for youma and have fun at the same time," Christina said, pressing the buttons to retract the fly screen.

"You could probably practice your civilian powers too, as long as you do it discreetly. Things could get crazy if people, or worse, the Negaverse found out about any one of us," Artemis said. Luna nodded in agreement.

"Got it. No revealing identities," Bonnie said, pulling out her phone.

"Let's hope he agrees to let her go," Dee whispered as Bonnie dialled her friend's number.

"Hello? Ethan, it's me, Bonnie. Listen, I was wondering whether I could join you and your friends when you go to the pool this week. ...Oh, really? Awesome! ...Yeah, OK. See you soon, then! Bye!"

"Sounds like you're going, then," Christina said as Bonnie tucked her phone back into her bag.

"Yup. It turns out he was planning on inviting me anyway, so that worked out well. I'd better go get my stuff ready if I'm going to the pool. I'll call you if there's any trouble," Bonnie said, before grabbing her bag and running up the stairs.

"Let's hope things don't get too hectic at Aquazone. It'd be nice for us to have at least one day when we're not chasing Youma," Steph said.

"Yes, that would be nice, but the way things are going lately, that's unlikely to happen," Artie sighed.

"You're so right, Artemis," Lucy said sadly.

* * *

"Hi, Ethan! Sorry to keep you waiting," Bonnie said, walking up the steps to greet a tall boy with brown hair. His brown eyes twinkled as he spotted Bonnie.

"Hey, Bonnie! Glad you could make it!" he said, his friends whispering with their girlfriends about the pair.

"No problem," Bonnie said, putting her hand in her pocket to make sure that she had her transformation pen and phone. Smiling, she followed Ethan and the others into Aquazone. The group split up and went to the change rooms, and Bonnie soon emerged wearing aquamarine-blue bathers with silver flowers down one side. She placed her bag down on a chair near the outdoor, olympic-sized swimming pool and pulled out a hair tie, which she then used to put her hair up into a small bun. She then took out her Transformation Pen, which she tucked into her hair. _I hope I don't have to use this today,_ Bonnie thought as she went and sat down on the edge of the pool, before focusing lightly and making small waves in the water. _This is nice,_ Bonnie thought, smiling.

_Don't forget why you're here, Bonnie,_ a voice in her head whispered. Bonnie sighed as her reason for coming to the pool came back with a jolt. She stared down at her reflection in the water, wondering when the Youma attacks would ever stop. Suddenly, there was a yell of "Cannonball!" behind her, and then Bonnie found herself drenched as one of Ethan's friends jumped into the pool, sending water everywhere. Bonnie shook her wet hair from her eyes and looked around to find that Ethan and the rest of the group were ready. They all jumped into the pool, and almost immediately, one of Ethan's friends swam up to Bonnie underwater and grabbed her leg, startling her. Instinctively, she used her civilian powers to send the boy to the other end of the pool, where he surfaced, astonished.

"Whoa, what was that?" the boy asked, swimming back towards them.

"I don't know, it was strange," Bonnie said, her anger at the boy dying down as it was replaced by a tinge of worry at having used her powers so strongly. She glanced around, hoping that no-one had noticed that it was her who made the boy move to the other end of the pool. Instead, she spotted someone hiding behind a tree on the nearby hill. As Bonnie watched, the figure placed a piece of what looked like crystal among the roots of the tree, which then mutated into a Youma. As luck would have it, Bonnie was still close to the edge of the pool where her clothes were, so she scrambled out of the pool, grabbed her phone and then ducked around a corner. She flipped open her phone and pressed a few buttons, then pressed the phone to her ear.

"Guys, Luna was right, there's a youma here, come quick!" Bonnie said frantically.

"We're on our way," her four friends' voices chorused in her ear. Bonnie flipped her phone shut and ran back to Ethan, who was standing in the middle of the pool watching the tree-youma as it punched a hole in a shade sail. Bonnie threw her phone onto the pile of her things, then ran back over to the pool and jumped in.

"Ethan, come on, we need to get out of here!" Bonnie called, swimming back over to him.

"That person's watching me," Ethan said to her, his eyes fixed on the person who was now hiding behind another tree. Bonnie frowned at the person, then turned back to Ethan.

"Ethan, please, we need to-"

"I'm not leaving."

"What?" Bonnie gasped.

"I'm going to find out what this person is up to," Ethan replied.

"But, Ethan-"

"Just hide, Bonnie." Bonnie stared at him for a moment, then nodded and swam to the other end of the pool. She checked to see that the mysterious figure was not paying attention to her, then, taking a deep breath, ducked underwater. Her bathers blended perfectly with the pool, making her practically invisible. She swam back to where Ethan was, making sure she stayed hidden underwater. Bonnie eyes widened as the figure approached the pool and she recognised it. _Oh no, Zoisite!_ Bonnie thought watching the General get closer. _What's she doing here? And more importantly, why is she so interested in Ethan?_

"What do you want with me?" Ethan asked, his voice muffled by the water. Zoisite chuckled.

"My, you're a brave one. You want to know why I'm talking to you and not one of your little friends? You see, you have something that I want," Zoisite said. Ethan stared at her for a moment, before saying,

"I don't even know you. Why would I give you something of mine when I have no idea who you are?"

"Oh, but you see, who I am doesn't matter, at least not where you're concerned. And as for you giving me what I want, well, you don't have a choice. Zoi!" Zoisite yelled, holding out a black crystal, which released waves of dark energy. Bonnie stared in horror as Ethan screamed, the dark energy creating a hole in his chest and revealing a glowing blue crystal floating inside. The crystal floated out of the hole and towards Zoisite, who grinned.

"This is just too easy. There's not even any Scouts around to stop me," the General said, reaching for the Crystal. Suddenly, a wall of water sprang up between her hand and the Crystal, and she jumped back as it turned to ice. Bonnie stood up and glared at Zoisite.

"You sure about that?" she said, her voice as cold as the wall of ice that she had just created.

"And who might you be?" Zoisite asked, staring through the ice at Bonnie, who pulled her Pen out of her hair.

"You'll find out. Mercury Power!" Bonnie yelled. The water in the pool reacted with the pen's light, creating a dome of water around Bonnie, Ethan and the Blue Crystal. When the light faded, the dome sank slowly back into the pool, revealing Sailor Mercury standing on a pillar of ice in the middle of the pool, the Blue Crystal in her hand. Mercury examined the crystal, then tucked it into her pocket.

"How dare you attack my friends! You're going to pay! I'm Sailor Mercury, and in the name of Mercury, I shall crush you!" Mercury shouted.

"So you are here, Ice Girl. Well, that's no problem, I'll just defeat you as well as getting the Crystal," Zoisite said. Mercury lifted Ethan out of the water and laid him on the side of the pool, then turned to Zoisite. A stream of water emerged from the pool and flew into Mercury's hand, where it froze into a sword.

"The only one who's going to be defeated here is you!" Mercury shouted, charging towards Zoisite, the water freezing into stepping stones beneath her feet. Zoisite quickly conjured up a dark sword and block Mercury's attack, before the two engaged in a fierce swordfight. The two swords, one icy white, the other pitch black, flashed and sparked as they connected, again and again. Slowly but surely, Mercury felt herself sliding backwards, and put an extra burst of energy into her next blow, knocking the Dark Sword from Zoisite's grip. Panting, Mercury pointed her sword at the General's throat. Zoisite looked from the sword to Mercury and back again, then chuckled.

"Are you really going to kill me, Ice Girl? Because if you do, you'll still have to deal with Azul," Zoisite asked. Mercury glared angrily at the General.

"I don't know who you mean by Azul, but I do know that I'm not stooping to your level," Mercury said, before her sword instantaneously defrosted, wound itself around Zoisite and froze again, trapping her. Zoisite looked down and examined her bonds, then laughed.

"Do you really think that this could hold me?" she asked incredulously. With one swift movement, Zoisite conjured another Dark Sword, sliced through her bonds and pointed the blade at Mercury's throat.

"I guess the roles are reversed, hmm? So what are you going to do now, Ice Girl?" Zoisite taunted. Mercury glared at Zoisite, her eyes flashing with hatred.

"You can do it, Sailor Mercury! Ice that creep!" a voice called. Mercury glanced over her shoulder to see Ethan's friends gathered, watching them. _Ethan and all his friends are counting on me,_ Mercury thought. _I have to protect them!_ Zoisite gasped and stepped back as Mercury began to glow with a brilliant blue light. Just then, Luna, Artemis and the other four scouts rushed through the door and skidded to a stop.

"What's going on?" Sailor Moon gasped.

"She's awoken her Scout Powers," Sailor Venus said happily. Mercury stared at her glowing hand for a moment, before her head snapped back up to look at Zoisite, who was watching her apprehensively. Mercury raised her glowing arms above her head, and the water in the pool behind her rose with them. A satisfied smile crept across her face as she looked at Zoisite.

"You're in trouble now," Mercury whispered, before the water flew over her head and enveloped Zoisite, trapping her in a sphere of water. Zoisite's eyes bulged as she realised what was happening, and she began clutching her throat and trying to get out. Before she could do so, however, Mercury stared at the sphere and the surface froze with a snap, leaving Zoisite twisting and flailing in the unfrozen centre. The General glared out at the glowing Scout for a moment, before vanishing, leaving black rose petals floating in the centre. Cheers erupted from behind her, and Mercury glanced back at the group, smiling when she found her friends standing there with them. She defrosted the water and put it back in the pool, noticing how the black rose petals evaporated when exposed to the air. Mercury sighed and walked over to the others, the blue light fading.

"That was awesome!"

"Yay! Mercury's our hero!"

"Great job, Mercs," Sailor Venus said, walking towards her friend.

"Thanks. Oh, I almost forgot, she was after this," Mercury said, taking out the Blue Crystal.

"Can I have a look at that, Mercury?" Artemis asked. Mercury passed it to him, and he held it up to the light.

"This is wonderful! We're one step closer to the Imperium Silver Crystal!" he said.

"Really?" the others chorused. Artemis nodded.

"Thank you for finding that Crystal, Scouts. Now give it to me," a familiar voice said. The Scouts turned to find Tuxedo Mask standing on the roof of the Aquazone building.

"We need the Imperium Silver Crystal, why on Venus would we give part of it to you?" Sailor Venus said.

"I need it too," Tuxedo Mask said simply.

"Keep dreaming, Tuxie, we're not giving it to you," Sailor Venus said. Tuxedo Mask sighed.

"I suppose you can have it for now. But I will get it back, you can be sure of that," Tuxedo Mask said, before he turned and left.

"Well, Tuxedo Mask aside, that was some very nice work against Zoisite, Mercury. I don't know how you got this, but that doesn't really matter now," Artemis said.

"It was inside of Ethan's body," Mercury said confusedly. Then she gasped. "Oh my gosh, Ethan!" she said, looking over to where she had laid her friend. The scouts rushed over to find Ethan breathing heavily and shivering.

"Ethan, are you alright?" Mercury asked. Artemis looked at the Crystal, then at Ethan. Then he gasped.

"Get back, all of you!" Artemis ordered. The others looked at him, confused. "I said, _get back_!" Artemis shouted. The others backed away from Ethan, who was shivering worse than ever.

"What's wrong, Artemis?" Mars asked.

"He's turning into a Youma," Artemis said gravely.

"_What?!?_" everyone else chorused.

"How is that even possible?!?" Mercury gasped.

"I'll explain later. For now, we need to heal him. Luna, I'll need your help for this," Artemis said. Luna nodded. The two cats stood side by side and did simultaneous backflips, creating a pink wand with a gold Crescent Moon on the top.

"Sailor Moon, this is for you. You have a special kind of power that no other Scout has, and that power can heal people. You need to take this Crescent Moon Wand and heal Ethan with it," Artemis said. Sailor Moon blinked, then picked up the Wand. A second later, Ethan was enveloped in a ray of dark energy. When the ray of energy faded, Ethan had transformed into a large, electric-blue dragon with black eyes.

"Ethan..." Mercury whispered.

"Who is that?!?" Jupiter gasped.

"I'm guessing that Ethan has turned into Azul. Zoisite was talking about how if I defeated her, I'd still have Azul to deal with. I think she knew what would happen if she took the Blue Crystal," Mercury said.

"So I need to heal him to make him normal again, right?" Sailor Moon said.

"Exactly," Artemis said.

"Look out!" Sailor Venus yelled, pushing Mercury out of the way of a large jet of blue flame that had come roaring at them. Everyone turned to find Azul staring at them.

"Quick, Sailor Moon, heal him!" Mercury said. Sailor Moon nodded.

"Moon Healing... Whoa!" Sailor Moon yelped, only just managing to dodge another jet of blue flames that Azul sent at her.

"Let's distract him, guys, that way Sailor Moon can get a clear shot at him!" Mars shouted. The others nodded and began hitting Azul with foam mats and toys.

"Thanks guys! Moon Healing Activation!" Sailor Moon shouted. Silver glitter and mist flowed out of the Crescent Moon Wand and enveloped Azul, who howled in pain. As the mist faded, everyone saw that Azul's eyes had changed from black to brown. As they watched, Azul was surrounded by blue sparkles, which changed him back into Ethan.

"Ethan! Are you alright?" Mercury asked.

"Um, Mercury, he won't know who you are," Sailor Venus pointed out.

"Oh, right. Um, I'm going to go find his friend Bonnie, OK guys?" Mercury said. The other scouts smiled and nodded. Mercury ran inside and into the change rooms, where she locked herself in and detransformed. Bonnie quickly checked herself in a mirror, then ran back outside, where she saw Ethan was waking up.

"Oh my gosh, Ethan, are you OK?" she asked, running over.

"Yeah, I think so," Ethan said. He looked around at the four scouts standing behind Bonnie. "What happened?"

"You got attacked and turned into a Youma, Ethan. It's a good thing Mercury was here, otherwise that creep Zoisite would have got away," Sailor Venus said.

"Where'd Mercury go? I want to thank her," Ethan said.

"She had to go, she had stuff to do. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll see her around," Sailor Moon said. Ethan nodded.

"Hey, where's that other Youma? The one Mercury called us here about?" Mars asked. Everyone looked around, then Bonnie laughed.

"Look over there, guys," she said, pointing at the hill. Everyone looked where she was pointing, and saw Zoisite's Dark Sword laying on top of a large pile of Youma Dust.

"Well that was a good shot, wasn't it," Bonnie smiled.

"Yes, thank goodness. That's one less thing we have to take care of," Artemis said.

"Well, it's been a busy day for everyone. I suggest we go home and get some rest," Luna said.

"Good idea, I'm hungry," Sailor Moon said.

"You're _always_ hungry!" The other four scouts chorused, then burst out laughing. Sailor Moon tried and failed to look upset, instead bursting into laughter with the others.


	8. The Violet Crystal

Chapter 8! Yay! I had to completely rewrite this one, seeing as my computer decided that the file was all of a sudden not going to work anymore. So here's the rewritten version as best as I can remember it. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. I also don't own a computer that is actually willing to work properly all the time. *sigh...*

* * *

"Wow, today was exhausting," Bonnie said, sitting down on the couch in Christina's living room.

"Yeah, but you totally kicked Zoisite's butt," Christina smiled.

"Thanks, Christina. But one thing still doesn't make sense. I still don't understand why Ethan turned into a Youma," Bonnie said, rubbing the Blue Crystal gently.

"That's quite a long story, but I guess I could try and tell you a little. See, a long time ago we all lived together on the Moon," Artemis began.

"We lived on the Moon? How is that possible? There's no air there," Phoenix pointed out.

"Bear in mind that this was a long time ago. There were lots of plants and greenery on the Moon, at least until the Silver Milennium ended," Artemis said.

"How'd it end, Artemis?" Dee asked.

"In a word, badly. See, one day the Negaverse Queen, Queen Beryl, attacked the Moon Kingdom and destroyed it. She also tried to assassinate our Princess. The Earth Prince, Endymion, who was in love with our Princess, stepped in and took the blow, sacrificing his own life for that of our Princess. Our Princess was so distraught at losing Endymion that she took his sword and killed herself to be with him," Artemis said.

"Why? Why would you do that, Christina?" Phoenix asked. Christina looked away, unwilling to answer.

"Don't be too hard on her, Phoenix. You have to remember that our Princess loved Endymion. Just imagine how you'd feel if someone you loved sacrificed themselves to save you," Artemis said. Phoenix nodded slowly.

"I get all of that, but what does any of this have to do with Ethan?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, as I said, Beryl attacked and destroyed the Moon Kingdom. Her army was huge, and it was mostly made up of Youma. There were seven Youma that were particularly strong. They were known as the Seven Great Youma, and they were all powerful Dragon-shaped Youma. Queen Serenity, our ruler and the mother of our Princess, trapped the Seven Great Youma in her Imperium Silver Crystal, which then shattered into the Seven Rainbow Crystals," Artemis said.

"So... Then Ethan is..." Bonnie trailed off as reality struck.

"He is the reincarnation of one of those Seven Great Youma, yes. However, now that Steph has healed him, he'll be able to transform at will into his Youma form," Artemis said, smiling.

"And that will come in very handy against the Negaverse," Luna said.

"Well, now that we've gotten all of that straightened out, I think we should probably put the Blue Crystal somewhere safe and go to bed. We'll need all the sleep we can get if things continue the way they are," Christina said.

"You're right, Christina. You go on up to bed, I'll hide the Crystal," Artemis said, taking it from Bonnie and going to the cupboard where he kept his silver computer. He opened the hatch and pressed a small button beside the computer, which slid out and to the side to reveal a small but strong safe. Artemis punched in the code and opened the safe, then took a small black velvet bag from inside and placed the Blue Crystal gently into it. He placed the bag on top of five brightly-coloured folders, then shut the safe and returned the computer to its original position. Satisfied, he shut the hatch and walked upstairs, where he found Christina sitting on the bed watching Steph and Luna, who were already fast asleep.

"They went down quickly," Artemis noted, jumping up onto the bed. Christina only nodded. The two sat quietly for a while, then Christina broke the silence with,

"Do you think they know? I mean, I've tried my best to hide the truth, but sometimes I think they know, you know?" Artemis chuckled.

"I'm sure they don't, Christina. You've done very well. Admittedly, there are a few things that could have been done a little better, but all in all things have worked out ok," Artemis said.

"Yeah. But we need to keep things under control, or the past will repeat itself."

"You need to stop obsessing about that so much, Christina. All we can do is try our best, and if it isn't meant to be, then that's that."

"How can you take such a light-hearted view of this, Artemis? This is the fate of the world we're talking about here!"

"I know, but you don't need to get so worked up about it."

"Artemis, you know I-"

"Come one, we'd better get some sleep. We'll need all the sleep we can get if today's anything to go by," Artemis said, cutting Christina off. Christina sighed.

"Alright, but we're not finished talking about this," she said, before grabbing a pair of white and orange pyjamas from a drawer and leaving the room to change. Artemis sighed. _I wish she'd lighten up a little,_ Artemis thought. _It'd be really hard on all of us if she was ruling us the way she is now..._

* * *

_Wow, things have been chaotic around here lately,_ Christina thought, flicking through the TV channels. _The Negaverse is probably looking for the next Crystal Carrier as well... And that means we won't get a rest any time soon... _

"...And in other news, there have been widespread blackouts across the state. Areas that are most affected include Hamilton, Mortlake and Warrnambool," a newsreader announced. Christina scowled at the TV and switched it off. _Guess that means we won't be training today. I told Artemis that we should have gotten a generator for the Base. Oh well, at least we still have a generator here,_ Christina thought, throwing the TV remote onto the couch and going into the kitchen. While she was getting out some bread, Lucy and Artie came downstairs.

"Good morning, Christina!" Artie said.

"I guess it is," Christina said, putting a slice of bread into the toaster.

"What's the matter?" Lucy asked.

"The power's out in town, which means we won't be able to go down to the Base and train," Christina said.

"That's alright, we'll just make do here," Artie said.

"Are you serious, Artemis? We can't train here, we'd be way too vulnerable! And I have no intention of putting a forcefield up. The one around the base took hours, and this house is over triple the size!"

"Ok, so we'll just skip training for today. Why don't you go out and see if you can sense anything. That Crescent Moon Wand that Luna and I gave Steph flashes if a Crystal Carrier is nearby, so you should take that too," Artemis suggested.

"And in the meantime, I'll install my prediction program on Artemis' computer, so that we don't need to go all the way down to the Base to use it," Lucy said.

"Now that sounds like a good idea. I'll go wake the others and we'll set off soon," Christina said, buttering her toast and leaving the room with it. Artemis watched her go, then sighed.

"She's changed so much, Luna."

* * *

"I'm so sleepy! Why did we have to get up so early, Chrissy?" Steph asked.

"I told you, we're seeing if we can find the next Crystal Carrier," Christina said.

"Yeah, but I still don't get why I need to carry this with me when I'm not transformed," Steph said, pulling the Crescent Moon Wand out. Christina snatched it away and stuffed it back into Steph's bag.

"Be careful with that! You can't just go waving it around, what would happen if someone saw?" Christina hissed.

"Hi Christina!" a voice called.

"See what I mean?" Christina whispered, before turning to find Jess walking towards her. "Hi Jess! How are you?"

"Pretty good. Better than I was at your party, at least," Jess smiled.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Christina said.

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's not your fault a Youma decided to crash your party," Jess said.

"Yeah. It's probably a good thing that the Youma crashed it, or we might have been there all night. You remember Steph, Bonnie, Dee and Phoenix, don't you?" Christina asked.

"Of course! How are you all?"

"We're all pretty tired, actually. But I think Bonnie's probably more tired than the rest of us," Dee said.

"Oh really? Why? What happened?" Jess asked.

"Nothing much. Just another Youma attacking people. This time it was at Aquazone, and me and a bunch of my friends were there," Bonnie shrugged, glancing at Christina, who she could sense was getting impatient to continue their search. Christina tapped her foot and sighed, then gasped as she spotted something glowing in Steph's bag.

"Stephy? Can I talk to you for a second?" Christina asked. Steph looked surprised but nodded. The two girls walked a few paces away, then Christina turned to her cousin.

"Have a look in your bag," Christina whispered. Steph looked confused but did as she was told, then gasped as she pulled out the Crescent Moon Wand and stared at the three gems below the crescent moon, which were flashing madly.

"What's going on?" Steph asked.

"Luna told me this morning that the Crescent Moon Wand flashes if a Crystal Carrier is nearby," Christina whispered.

"So that means that Jess is..." Steph trailed off, looking up at Jess. Christina nodded, frowning thoughtfully. Then, suddenly, her frown vanished.

"Hey, Jess, wanna hang out with us?" Jess looked surprised, but smiled.

"Sure! That'd be fun!" she said. The group, now slightly larger, continued down the footpath. Bonnie slowed her pace slightly to walk beside Christina.

"You changed your mind fast," she said.

"What do you mean?" Christina asked.

"I thought you wanted to search for Crystal Carriers," Bonnie whispered.

"She is a Crystal Carrier. Luna told me that the Crescent Moon Wand flashes if there's a Crystal Carrier nearby, and it started flashing when Jess got here. So that means that we need to keep an eye on her," Christina said, pulling out her phone. "Artemis? Yeah, it's me. We found one. What do we do with her?"

"Stay with her. If the Negaverse attacks, you'll need to stop them from getting the Crystal," Artemis said.

"Gotcha," Christina said, before flipping her phone shut and slipping it back into her pocket. "I have to admit that I wasn't expecting us to find a Crystal Carrier so quickly."

"Yeah, but we did, and at least we'll all be here if Zoisite does decide to show up," Bonnie pointed out.

* * *

"Yum, this was a good idea of yours to get chips for lunch, Chrissy," Steph said, stretching out on the grass of the Civic Green and taking another handful of chips.

"Well, I figured we'd probably be out here for a while, so we may as well get something to keep us going," Christina said, shielding her eyes from the sunlight that was reflecting off of the windows of the nearby Art Gallery.

"Warrnambool is so boring! Don't you wish something exciting would happen?" Jess asked.

"Not really. It seems like there's been tons of excitement around here for ages. I wouldn't mind a little peace for a change," Christina said. _Looks like Jess is the one who gets her wish, though,_ she thought as a tingle of negative energy hit her senses.

"Guys, someone's coming, and I think it might be her," Christina said. Everyone except Jess gasped. Jess just looked confused.

"You sure?" Steph asked. Christina only nodded and looked around, spotting a shadowy figure hiding behind one of the pillars at the front of the Art Gallery.

"Who are you guys talking about?" Jess asked.

"Don't look now, guys, but I think Miss Freaky over there is being her usual self again," Christina said, watching as the figure left its hiding place and walked towards them.

"Hello there girls, how are we all today?" Zoisite(for her it was) asked.

"Why do you care? You never cared before, and you're so cold and heartless that I highly doubt you'll start caring anytime soon," Christina spat.

"My, you're rude. You should mind your manners, little girl," Zoisite said.

"I'll be as rude as I like to you, Nega-creep! Venus Power!"

"Moon Prism Power!"

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!" Jess gasped as the others transformed.

"You're the Sailor Scouts?!?" Jess and Zoisite chorused.

"That's right, and we're here to stop you, Zoisite! I'm Sailor Moon!"

"I'm Sailor Mercury!"

"I'm Sailor Mars!"

"I'm Sailor Jupiter!"

"And I'm Sailor Venus! And in the name of our guardian planets..."

"We shall punish you!" the scouts chorused.

"So, you showed up again. Just when you're not wanted, as usual. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you girls, but I really don't have time to bother with you. Here," Zoisite said, throwing a handful of tiny black crystals into the air. The crystals flew around and transformed two seal statues, a magpie and several tufts of grass into youma, which grabbed the five Scouts and threw them across the Civic Green. Zoisite sighed happily, then turned to Jess.

"There. Now that that little problem has been dealt with, I can get down to business. Zoi!" Zoisite yelled, holding out her black crystal. As with Ethan, the waves of dark energy released by the black crystal opened a hole in Jess's chest, revealing a violet crystal floating inside.

"This is too easy," Zoisite chuckled, taking the Violet Crystal as it floated towards her.

"Not so fast, Zoisite!" Sailor Venus yelled, destroying the magpie Youma with her Crescent Beam Smash. She conjured up two arrows and sent them flying across the grass at lightning speed. One arrow flew too far right and landed in the grass, while the other grazed Zoisite's arm, making her yell in pain and drop the Violet Crystal. Sailor Venus ran and dove across the grass, snatching the dropped Crystal up and then rolling away from Zoisite with it.

"Come back here!" Zoisite yelled, running after Sailor Venus, who sprang to her feet and ran across the Civic Green, laughing. Meanwhile, the other four Scouts had defeated the remaining Youma and were tending to Jess, who was shivering and unconscious.

"Do you reckon she'll turn into a Youma like Ethan did?" Mercury asked.

"Probably, so we'd better give her some space. You saw how big Azul was," Sailor Moon said, stepping back a few paces. The others nodded and stepped back too, and sure enough, Jess became engulfed in a ray of dark energy, which faded to reveal a large, bright purple dragon-youma with black eyes.

"Ah, just in time. Purpura, get that Crystal back from Princess Venus!" Zoisite ordered. Purpura growled at Zoisite and then breathed a jet of purple fire at her.

"Aaargh! Purpura, what are you doing? Get them, not me!" Zoisite yelled, narrowly dodging another jet of flame. Purpura roared and breathed more fire at Zoisite, who dodged it and threw another handful of crystals into the grass, creating several more youma. The grass youma swarmed Purpura but were quickly incinerated. Unfortunately, Purpura was distracted long enough for Zoisite to reach Sailor Venus, cut her arm with one of her Dark Swords and take the Violet Crystal back. Cackling, Zoisite vanished in a flurry of black flower petals.

"Darn it! She got the Crystal!" Sailor Venus yelled, pulling one of her gloves off and pressing it over the long bleeding cut down her arm.

"Are you OK?" Mercury asked. Sailor Venus gritted her teeth and nodded as her wound began expelling orange sparks. When the sparks died down, she removed her blood-stained glove to reveal a thin white scar.

"What the... How'd you do that?" Sailor Moon gasped.

"What, healing so quickly? We can all do that as long as we're in our scout forms," Sailor Venus said, pulling the glove back on.

"Do our scout outfits get cleaned when we detransform?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah, of course. You think people want us to turn up to fights with burnt, ripped and blood-stained outfits? What kind of an image would that be?" Christina asked, shaking her head.

"So what do we do now?" Mars asked.

"Well, how about for starters you heal Purpura, Sailor Moon," Sailor Venus said.

"Yeah, good point. Moon Healing Activation!" Sailor Moon called, holding the Crescent Moon Wand out towards Purpura, who howled in pain as her eyes faded from black to blue. Purpura blinked at the scouts a few times and was surrounded by purple sparkles, then changed back into Jess.

"Jess! Are you alright?" Sailor Venus asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. That was really weird, though," Jess said. Sailor Venus nodded, then detransformed.

"Well, I dunno about you guys, but I feel like getting some ice cream," Sailor Moon said as she detransformed. The others detransformed, laughing.

"We just had chips, Stephy," Christina smiled.

"Yeah, but I work up an appetite when I'm fighting," Steph said.

"Well we'll have some ice-cream when we get home. For now, we should probably get out of here before people start turning up to investigate. You can come with us if you like, Jess," Christina said.

"Thanks, but I should probably go. My sister's probably waiting for me by now," Jess said.

"OK. Well, you're welcome to come by anytime and meet Luna and Artemis. I'm sure they'd like to meet you," Christina said.

"I might not be able to in the next few days, but I'll try. See ya," Jess said, before turning and leaving. Christina sighed.

"Speaking of Luna and Artemis, I hope they're not too mad that I lost the Crystal," she said.

"Hey, don't feel too bad. You tried your best," Steph said.

"Yeah, I know, but it's not good enough. I should have ran straight to the Base once I got it instead of teasing her," Christina sighed.

"Oh well. We'll get it back, don't worry," Phoenix said.

"If we combine our powers, we can do anything! Right, guys?" Dee asked.

"Exactly, Dee. We just need to work together, like you told us," Bonnie said. Christina smiled a little at the memory that the others were talking about, the memory of her disaster of a party when Dee had awoken.

"Thanks guys. I just hope that Luna and Artemis don't take it too badly," Christina said.

"They won't. And if they do, I'll yell at them until they stop telling you off. Now let's go home," Steph said. The others nodded and smiled, and the five exhausted scouts set off for Christina's house.


	9. Jupiter and the Green Crystal

Sparrowflyaway/Christina: Chapter 9! Yay!

Steph: I hope we can get that crystal back from Zoisite...

Christina: So do I... I'm an idiot for not getting away with it...

Artemis: Calm down, Christina. We'll get it back.

Christina: I hope so... *sigh* I think I'll do the disclaimer now... I don't own Sailor Moon or PGSM.

Bonnie: That'd be kinda weird if you did.

* * *

"Artemis?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry I lost the Violet Crystal today."

"Christina, we've been over this. It's alright, we'll get it back."

"Yeah, I know, but I still feel like an idiot for not running away with it."

"True, that could have been handled better, but at least you were there to protect Jess."

"I guess..."

"Now I think we'd better get to sleep. It's 2AM and we'll need to do more training in the morning."

"But how can we? The power's still out in town."

"We'll have to come up with some training that Terrans do that could be helpful and won't attract suspicion from the Negaverse. I'm sure we'll think of something."

"I guess so. Goodnight, Artemis."

"Goodnight, Christina."

* * *

"Morning guys! Where's Chrissy and Artemis?" Steph asked, walking into the lounge room where Bonnie, Phoenix and Lucy were seated on the couch watching the morning news.

"Well, Christina's still in bed, and I have no idea where Artemis went. He left about half an hour ago saying that he had an idea for today's Scout Training and was going to see if he could find it," Lucy said.

"In the meantime, we're watching the news to see if there's anything about the Negaverse in there," Bonnie said. Just then, a news report came on that snapped their attention back to the screen.

"...And on to our next story. Reports of monster attacks in Warrnambool have been on the increase, and we are yet to find out why. Despite the lack of knowledge about these creatures, citizens are being advised not to panic, as there are people out there who are taking care of the problem," the newsreader said. The girls were so focused on the news report that none of them noticed Christina walk into the room and begin watching too. "The sudden-celebrity group known as the Sailor Scouts appear whenever monsters, or as the Sailor Scouts call them, "Youma", appear. Some believe that these girls are secret agents, while others believe that they themselves set the Youma upon the town, with the intention of making themselves popular," the newsreader stated.

"That's utter rubbish! Why would we do something like that?" Steph asked.

"Shhhhhhhh!" the others hissed.

"Reporters from around the country are swarming to Warrnambool, hoping to get an interview with the Sailor Scouts, but as the Scouts' identities remain a mystery, this is proving to be extremely difficult."

"Ha, good luck figuring out our true identities. Stupid Terrans, we're not just going to show our civilian forms to them," Lucy scoffed.

"Shhhhhhhh!"

"There are rumours that the famous crime fighter, Sailor V, will be joining the group, but it is as yet unknown whether these rumours are true."

"She already has!" Bonnie laughed.

"Shhhhhhhh!"

"While their true intention is still unknown, the Sailor Scouts are, for the time being, the shelter in a storm."

"Well, at least most people aren't being paranoid," Phoenix said.

"Yeah, but they're so wrong about us," Steph said.

"Well what do you expect? They're not exactly going to give us leadership of Warrnambool or anything like that," Bonnie said.

"Yeah, but they could at least be grateful to us for saving their butts all the time," Steph said.

"They're Terrans, Stephy, what do you expect?" Christina asked. The others turned around, surprised that Christina was there.

"You have a point there, Christina, but keep in mind that some of your friends are Terrans too. Not to mention that you have Terran blood in you yourself," Lucy said.

"At least I've managed to get past that," Christina murmured.

"That news report really didn't say much at all, did it," Bonnie said.

"Yeah, well, that's not that surprising. Where's Artemis?" Christina asked.

"He went out to find something that we could use for Scout Training today," Lucy said. Just then, the front door slammed, and Artie walked into the lounge room.

"Hey, Artemis, did you find what you were looking for?" Christina asked.

"No, unfortunately not. But I have some good news: the power's back on in town, so we can go to the Base and do some training there," Artie said.

"Great! Let's go!" Steph said, jumping to her feet. The others got to their feet too, and began gathering shoes and bags to go down to the Base. Christina glanced at Artie, who could tell by her look that she wanted to speak to him in private. Artie followed Christina upstairs, where he shut her bedroom door after him.

"I'm sorry, Artemis."

"What for?" Artie asked, surprised.

"For losing the Violet Crystal yesterday. I'm such an idiot!"

"Don't worry about it, Christina. We'll get them back."

"Artemis, You know the gravity of my mission, how can you take such an easy view of things? We have to stop the past from repeating. That's our mission as scouts! That's why we have to keep fighting. So that the past doesn't repeat itself."

"For heaven's sake, Christina! You're fighting for the wrong reasons, can't you see that?"

"So you're saying I shouldn't be fighting at all."

"Oh, come on, you know very well that's not-"

"Look, Artemis, I have better things to do than argue with you," Christina said, stuffing her phone and her transformation pen into her bag and opening the door.

"And next time, don't tell me what to do. I'm the Scout of Love, I know well enough what to do on my own," Christina said, before slamming the door. Artie sighed and gave Christina a few moments to get downstairs, then followed her downstairs to where Lucy and the others were waiting for them. Christina went to the closet and pulled out a large bag.

"Are we all ready to go?" Christina asked, shouldering the bag.

"Yep, we're all set. Let's go do some training," Lucy smiled.

* * *

"So what's the plan for Scout Training today?" Bonnie asked, closing the door and walking down the stairs to the Base.

"Well, I thought for a start, we'd try some hand-to-hand combat, then try some evasion, and then finish up with the butterflies again," Artie said, as he and Lucy pushed the couch, table and chairs back against the green wall. Christina nodded and opened her large bag, pulling out six long wooden swords.

"Now, these aren't actually real swords – they have no blade, as you can see – but they're useful in practicing. Artie, you'll have to help us, since there's only five of us," Christina said, handing the "swords" around. Artie nodded and took one of the swords from Christina. "Now, we need to pair up. Artemis, I reckon you could go with Dee, Steph, you go with Nixx, and I'll go with Bonnie." The others nodded and found their partner, while Lucy went and sat down on the couch.

"OK, so first off, one of you is going to try and hit your partner while they attempt to block. Steph, Bonnie, Dee, you guys attack. And remember, guys, it's always useful to use your senses. Ready? Go!" Christina yelled, raising her sword and blocking a swift attack from Bonnie. Bonnie grinned and pushed down on the sword, then pulled it away and aimed for Christina's legs, but missed as Christina jumped over it. Meanwhile, Steph and Dee were striking blow after blow on their partners' sword, neither having much luck in actually connecting with their target.

"Use your senses, Dee! Use your senses!" Artemis was yelling. After a few minutes of blocking and striking, Lucy pulled out a whistle and blew on it, and the group stopped, panting.

"Nice work, guys. Did any of you manage to hit your partner?" Christina asked, holding her side where Bonnie had managed to get under her sword and hit her. Artie pointed to his forehead, where a small purple bruise was appearing.

"Nice one, Dee! It took me a while before I could get past Artemis' sword," Christina said, watching Artie gently rub his bruise away. "How about you, Stephy? Did you manage to hit Nixx?"

"Yeah, I did, but only on her free arm," Steph said.

"OK, let's swap over. Artemis, Nixx, us three will be attacking now. Ready? Go!" Christina said, before raising her sword. While Phoenix began bashing away at Steph's sword, Christina and Artie paced around their partners for a moment, using their senses to find their partners' weak spots. Christina suddenly grinned and swung her sword down towards Bonnie's knees, and Bonnie jumped over it. While Bonnie was still in the air, Christina swung her sword back up and got the Water Scout in the shoulder.

"Ouch! Good one, Christina," Bonnie said, rubbing her shoulder.

"It's all about sensing your opponent's movements. Keep your sword up, Bonnie. If an enemy did that, you'd be in serious trouble right about now," Christina said, backing off a little and raising her sword again. Bonnie nodded and focused on her senses, and when Christina's next blow came down, aimed for her head, Bonnie sensed the movement and blocked the attack. Meanwhile, Phoenix was twirling around and raining blow after blow on Steph, who was managing to block most of the attacks despite their ferocity. Dee, on the other hand, was taking quite a few hits from Artie.

"Use your senses, Dee! That's the one thing that you can always, _always_ trust to work for you. Trust your senses!" Artie yelled, twirling his sword and then aiming for Dee's stomach. Dee quickly tuned into her senses and swung her sword, knocking Artie's away. "That's it!" Artie smiled, before aiming for her shoulder. Again, Dee blocked his attack. Finally, Lucy blew her whistle, and the group stopped again, panting hard.

"Good job, guys. I think you learned the main rule of battle today, whether it's hand-to-hand or not. If you can't trust anything else, trust your senses. Everything has energy, whether it's negative energy or not, and if you practice honing your senses, you'll be able to understand the movements in that energy and anticipate your enemy's movements," Christina said, taking the swords back and putting them beside her bag. She then opened the bag again and pulled out two long pipes made of transparent plastic, a lot of shorter black T-shaped pipes with a small box attached to each, a small air compressor and a bag of tennis balls. While she began sorting through them to fit them together,

Artie and Lucy changed into their cat forms and began creating mats around the room. By the time they had finished, Christina had fitted the pipes and the air compressor together into something resembling a comb that spanned the entire width of the room. Artemis changed back into his human form and helped Christina to push the contraption against the back of the couch, then Christina took out a tangle of cords and used it to connect the small boxes on each of the pipes to the air compressor. She then switched on the air compressor, and the contraption immediately sprung to life, making the t-shaped pipes pivot up and down. Then, suddenly, a tennis ball shot out of one of the pipes and bounced off the red wall.

"Whoa! What was that?" Dee yelped, ducking. Christina smiled and switched off the air compressor, then turned to her friends.

"That was a tennis ball, travelling at 5 kilometres an hour. This machine is designed to test your evasion, but it's also testing your reaction time and reflexes, since you won't know which pipe the tennis ball will be coming out of. Artemis, you and Luna could sit on the stairs and watch if you like, that way you'll be out of the line of fire," Christina said. Artie and Luna nodded and sat down on the steps, and then Christina switched the air compressor back on. The contraption immediately began spitting out tennis balls high and low, and the girls ran around the room attempting to dodge them all. Artie watched the girls for a while, then changed back into his cat form and turned to Luna.

"Luna, did you notice how well Bonnie and Phoenix are doing?" he whispered.

"Yes, I did. I suspect Bonnie's doing well because she awoke her Scout Powers," Luna whispered back.

"But what about Phoenix? She's doing quite well too, she might be the next one," Artemis whispered. Luna's eyes widened at the possibility.

"Do you think so?" she asked. Artemis nodded.

"Yes, she could be. Besides what we're seeing now, I noticed her technique in the hand-to-hand training. It's a lot like her technique from the Silver Millennium."

"Well, we'd better keep an eye on her, then." Just then, the computer beeped, and Christina switched the air compressor off so that Luna could reach the computer. Luna ran over and switched the computer on, and a pulsing black dot appeared on the screen.

"Another youma attack in the future?" Christina asked.

"Yes, and it's likely that it'll be today," Luna replied.

"It's probably also likely that there'll be a Crystal Carrier there, seeing as the Negaverse are after them," Christina said darkly, remembering losing the Violet Crystal yesterday.

"Where is it, Luna?" Steph asked. Luna pressed a few buttons on the keyboard, and the map zoomed in on the area where the dot was pulsing.

"Lake Pertobe," Luna said, examining the map.

"Again? Weren't we fighting youma there not that long ago?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, it is a popular place. The high levels of energy are probably what makes the Negaverse target that area," Artemis said.

"Oh well. It doesn't really matter why they're targeting it, what matters is that they are. So we'd better get there and stop them," Christina said.

"How about I go?" Phoenix asked.

"Not a bad idea, Phoenix. You and Christina can go there and check it out, while Steph, Bonnie and Dee see if they can find another Crystal Carrier around town," Artemis said.

"Looks like we have to skip the butterflies today," Dee said sadly.

"Sorry, Dee, but yes, we have to finish Training a little early. We'll get the butterflies out next time, though. Good luck, girls, and if you need back up, call Ethan or Jess. They should be able to help you," Artemis said. The girls nodded and then ran up the stairs to go to their respective errands.

* * *

"We've been out here for almost an hour and I still haven't sensed anything. Have you?" Dee asked as she, Steph and Bonnie wandered down a street.

"No, I haven't. Is the Wand reacting at all, Steph?" Bonnie asked. Steph glanced into her bag, finding the Crescent Moon Wand disappointingly unlit.

"Nope, it's not flashing at all," Steph said. Just then, a buzzing sound echoed out of Steph's bag. "I hope Nixx and Christina have had better luck," she said, pulling out her phone and flipping it open. "Hello?"

"Any luck?"

"Nope, we haven't found anyone yet, Luna."

"OK. Call if you do find anything, OK?"

"Sure. Any word from Chrissy and Nixx yet?"

"No, I was just about to call them."

"OK. We'll call you if we need you, Luna."

* * *

"I wonder if we'll find another Crystal Carrier here," Phoenix mused, looking around at all the people running around them.

"It'll be like finding a needle in a dozen haystacks if they are here," Christina murmured darkly.

"Come on, Christina, lighten up. We'll find them, and we'll get all the Crystals back too," Phoenix said.

"Yeah, I know," Christina sighed.

"Hey, there's my friend Jayden!" Phoenix said, running away towards a group of people.

"Phoenix! We're here for a reason!" Christina called after her, then sighed, exasperated. "Honestly. Am I the only Scout that actually takes my mission seriously?" she muttered, before walking towards the area where Phoenix was talking to a tall curly-haired boy. As Christina neared the group, her senses picked up a faint tingle of energy, and she frowned as she realised that it was the unmistakeable tingle of a Rainbow Crystal's energy. Her eyes fell on the group of people that Phoenix was with, and realised that the energy was coming from that direction. Shaking her head in amazement at their luck, Christina walked over to the group. "What'cha doin', Nixx?"

"Oh, sorry, Christina, I forgot about why we were here. This is my friend Jayden," Phoenix said, indicating the boy she had been talking to.

"Nice to meet you, Jayden, I'm Christina," Christina said, holding out her hand to shake hands with Jayden.

"Nice to meet you too," Jayden smiled, reaching out and shaking hands with Christina, who felt a tingle of energy from the handshake. _He's the one,_ Christina thought. _He's the one I was picking up energy from. He's one of the Crystal Carriers._

"Um, Nixx, could I talk to you for a sec?" Christina asked, before leading Phoenix a few paces away.

"What's up, Christina?" Phoenix asked

"Didn't you sense anything from anyone in that group?" Christina asked.

"Well, now that you mention it, I thought I felt something, but I wasn't sure-"

"It's Jayden."

"What?"

"Jayden's one of the Crystal Carriers, I could tell by the energy that I felt from his handshake."

"What do we do?"

"Stick with him. I'll go make some phone calls. And keep your senses open, you never know when Zoisite's gonna turn up," Christina said, taking out her phone and walking away. Phoenix glanced around, her senses tingling with negative energy. _She's around here somewhere,_ she thought. _Now I just have to make sure she stays away from Jayden._ Phoenix smiled, then walked back over to the group.

"Where'd your friend go, Nixx?" Jayden asked, looking around.

"She went to make a few phone calls. She'll be back before long," Phoenix smiled, glancing around as the negative energy got stronger. _Where is she? I know that lowlife Zoisite's around here somewhere..._ Just then, Phoenix spotted a tall figure standing on a nearby bridge, watching them.

"What's the matter?" Jayden asked, noticing the scowl that was forming on Phoenix's face. She blinked a few times, then smiled at him.

"Nothing! I'm fine," Phoenix said, pulling out her phone and dialling Christina's number.

"Christina, you might wanna get back over here... She's here," Phoenix said.

"OK. I'll be there soon. I've just gotta call Jess and then I'll be right there. Stay where you are, I'll come find you," Christina replied, before hanging up. Phoenix flipped her phone shut and put it back in her bag, then glanced up at the tall figure, who was slowly moving closer.

"So how've you been, Nixx? I haven't seen you in a while," Jayden said.

"Yeah, I've been busy..."

"What with?" Phoenix paused, wondering how to answer.

"I've been helping my friends," she said finally, glancing over her shoulder at the figure, who was close enough to be distinguishable as Zoisite. _It_ is _her_. _Now what do I do?_ Excusing herself, Phoenix walked over to a nearby drink tap, where she could keep an eye on her friends, who were now staring at Zoisite.

"Hello there, boys, how are you?" Zoisite asked, fiddling with the black crystal in her hand

"Fine thanks," one of the other boys replied, before turning away. Zoisite chuckled, then raised her arm and sent a wave of dark energy over the group, throwing all except Jayden into the lake. Phoenix watched, waiting for the right moment to transform and attack. She jumped as she felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned around to find Christina next to her.

"Has she attacked yet?" Christina whispered.

"No, not yet, but I think she knows that Jayden is a Crystal Carrier," Phoenix replied, watching as Zoisite advanced towards the curly-haired boy.

"Now, Let's get down to business, shall we?" Zoisite said, grinning.

"What do you mean? How'd you do that?" Jayden asked.

"Oh, it's not very hard. Then again, neither is taking your Crystal! Zoi!" Zoisite yelled, holding out her black crystal. The waves of dark energy opened a hole in Jayden's chest, revealing a glowing Green Crystal floating inside. "This is just so easy," Zoisite grinned as the crystal floated towards her.

"Well then let's make it harder for you, shall we?" a voice said, before an orange-and-silver arrow flew through the air and struck Zoisite's hand. Zoisite yelped in pain and tried to pulled the arrow out of her hand, giving the girls time to transform.

"Venus Power!"

"Jupiter Power!" Green and orange lights flashed, and then Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter stepped out from their hiding place and glared at Zoisite.

"You're a pain in the butt, Zoisite, and we're gonna finish you off! I'm Sailor Venus!"

"And I'm Sailor Jupiter! And in the name of our guardian planets..."

"We shall punish you!" they chorused.

"I'm not surprised you two brats showed up. Oh well, it'll make my job easier," Zoisite said, conjuring up a Dark Sword and running towards the two.

"Let's tag team, Jupiter!"

"Good idea!"

"Venus Crescent Beam..."

"Supreme..."

"Smash!" "Thunder!" the two attacks merged and struck the Dark Sword, knocking it out of Zoisite's hand. Sailor Venus raised her arm and pointed directly between Zoisite's eyes.

"I suggest you get out of here before I blast your brains out," Sailor Venus said. Zoisite glared at her.

"Very well. But I'll be back for that Crystal, make no mistake about that! Oh, and good luck with Verde!" Zoisite said, before disappearing in a whirl of black petals. Sailor Venus sighed and lowered her arm, then glanced at Jayden, who was shivering.

"Thank goodness she left. Now where's that Crystal?" Jupiter asked, turning around. Sailor Venus turned too, then raised her arm again when she saw who was standing behind her, holding the Green Crystal up and examining it.

"I suggest you give that back, Tuxedo Mask. I'm not in the mood for you today," Sailor Venus said.

"I need the Imperium Silver Crystal, so if this is a part of it, then I think I'll keep it," Tuxedo Mask said, tucking it into a pocket. Sailor Venus took a couple of steps forwards, her finger still pointing at Tuxedo Mask.

"Seriously, give it to me."

"No, I don't think I will." Venus took another step forward, several of her arrows appearing in a ring around her wrist.

"I'm not in the mood to play games with you, mister. Just give me the Crystal."

"No, I won't. And I won't give up my search for the rest of them, either. See you around, Princess," Tuxedo Mask said, before turning and running away. Sailor Venus sent her arrows after him, but they all fell short and missed.

"Darn it! How could I lose one to _him_?" Sailor Venus yelled, stamping her foot in anger.

"Don't worry, Christina, we'll get that one back too," Jupiter said.

"Yeah, but how am I gonna tell Artemis that I lost one of the Crystals to _him_?" Sailor Venus said, neither of them noticing Kunzite floating above them.

"My, my, you're such a feisty one, Princess. So full of guilt and negativity," he murmured. Then a smile formed on his face. "That could be useful." Chuckling to himself, he vanished.

"Where's Sailor Moon? She needs to come heal Jayden when he transforms," Sailor Venus said, trying to gather her scattered thoughts.

"I'm right here," Sailor Moon said, arriving at that moment with Mercury, Mars, Luna, Artemis, Jess and Ethan behind her.

"Where's the Green Crystal?" Mars asked. Sailor Venus cringed.

"Tuxedo Mask took it," she said.

"What? Why would he take it?" Sailor Moon asked.

"He says he wants the Imperium Silver Crystal," Sailor Venus said.

"Never mind that now, we've got trouble!" Mercury yelled, pointing at the ray of dark energy that had erupted around Jayden. When it faded, the group were staring at a large green dragon with black eyes.

"That must be Verde," Sailor Venus said.

"Whoa! Were we that huge when we transformed?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, you were. And you need to transform again now," Artemis said.

"How do we do that?" Ethan asked.

"Close your eyes and search inside yourselves for your power. It shouldn't be that hard to find," Artemis replied. The two of them nodded and closed their eyes, searching for their power.

"Just keep looking! It'll be there!" Sailor Venus yelled, conjuring a few arrows and throwing them at Verde.

"Moon Healing Activation!" Sailor Moon called, holding out her Crescent Moon Wand. The air filled with silver glitter and mist which caused Verde to yelp, but his eyes were still black when the sparkles stopped.

"He's too powerful for the healing to work! We need to weaken him!" Sailor Venus called. Just then, two rays of energy – one blue, one purple – surrounded Ethan and Jess, and when they faded, Azul and Purpura stood side by side, staring at Verde.

"They found their power!" Sailor Venus said happily, stepping aside so that the two dragons could face their former comrade.

"You only need to weaken him! Just enough for Sailor Moon to be able to heal him!" Artemis called. The two dragons nodded, then turned to face Verde, who roared and then breathed a jet of emerald green flame at them. Azul and Purpura responded by breathing jets of fire back at him, and for a moment the three different coloured flames collided in mid-air, blocking the other side's attack. Then the flames exploded, sending black smoke over the Scouts and their feline guardians. When the smoke finally cleared, they looked up to find the three dragons fighting viciously, scratching and biting. Eventually Azul and Purpura pulled away, each sporting several small scratches. Verde, on the other hand had a large scratch down his belly, and looked considerably weaker.

"Now, Sailor Moon!" Luna yelled.

"Moon Healing Activation!" More silver glitter filled the air, but again, Verde's eyes stayed the same. _Jayden..._ Jupiter thought. _How can I help you? I need to help you!_ Mars gasped as she caught sight of Jupiter, who had begun to glow green.

"Jupiter... You've awakened your Scout Powers!" Sailor Venus cried, smiling. Jupiter stared at her hands, then looked up at Verde, who was watching her warily.

"Jayden... I'll help get you back," Jupiter whispered as the sky began to fill with black thunderclouds. Jupiter's electricity rod rose from her tiara and began crackling with green electricity.

"Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter yelled, aiming the attack at the green dragon-youma, who howled in agony as the lightning tore through his body. "Now, Sailor Moon!" Jupiter called, looking at her team mate. Sailor Moon nodded.

"Moon Healing Activation!" This time, when the silver glitter came into contact with Verde, he howled as his eyes changed from black to brown. He looked down at them as green sparkles filled the air around him, then he changed back into Jayden. Jupiter sighed.

"Thank goodness. I'm exhausted!" Mars said, watching as blue and purple sparkles filled the air around Azul and Purpura, who changed back into Ethan and Jess.

"Wow, that's tiring. How do you guys do this every day?" Jess asked.

"With a little luck and a lot of rest, that's how," Sailor Venus sighed.

"Wake up, Jayden," Jupiter said, shaking the unconscious boy.

"He'll be fine, Jupiter. Just let him rest for a while," Artemis said. Just then, Jayden groaned and opened his eyes, surprise filling his face when he saw the Sailor Scouts there.

"What's going on, you guys?" he asked.

"Nothing much. Just the usual monsters running amok," Sailor Jupiter said.

"Well, I think our work here is done. Come on, guys, let's go home. Jess, Ethan, thanks for your help," Sailor Venus said.

"No problem," Jess smiled. Sailor Venus nodded, then she and the other Scouts headed home.

* * *

"Wow, what a day," Dee said, sinking onto the couch.

"I can't believe I lost another Crystal, and to him of all people," Christina said, frowning.

"It's not your fault, Chrissy, don't worry about it. We'll get it back," Steph said.

"Yeah, but that Crystal is part of the Imperium Silver Crystal! That's the most powerful crystal in the universe! If the Negaverse gets hold of it, we're all doomed!" Christina said frustratedly.

"Stop stressing, Christina! We'll get it back!" Artemis said. Christina sighed.

"Yeah, I know. I guess I'm just kinda stressed at the moment. I guess I'll go to bed now. Night, everyone," Christina said, before leaving the room. Artemis sighed.

"Go on up to bed, everyone. Oh, and Phoenix, well done on awakening your Scout Powers today," he said. Phoenix smiled.

"Thanks, Artemis," she said, before following the others up to bed.


	10. The Yellow Crystal

Dee: The Youma just seem to be getting stronger and stronger, don't they.

Christina: I hate to admit it, but the Negaverse does seem to be getting stronger.

Steph: We're stronger than they are, we can beat them!

Christina: I hope so...

Artemis: We will, Christina, you just have to have faith that we will.

Christina: Yeah, I know...

Artemis: Come on, Christina, buck up. Things'll turn out OK, you'll see. How about I do the disclaimer for you, since you don't seem to be in much of a mood to do it right now.

Christina: Sure, go ahead...

Artemis: OK. Sparrowflyaway does not own Sailor Moon or PGSM. She also doesn't in any way own the amateur acting company known as Holiday Actors.

Christina: But that's be awesome if I did, since H.A. is so fun.

Artemis: And it gets your mind off of the Crystals.

Christina: *groan* Don't remind me about them, Artemis, I feel bad enough already.

* * *

"Morning, Chrissy! How'd you sleep?" Steph asked, walking downstairs to find Christina sitting at the kitchen table in her pyjamas with her head in her hands, and Artemis sitting on the table beside her. Christina looked up, the bags under her eyes answering Steph's question. Steph dumped her bag on the table and shook her head. "That bad, huh?" Christina just groaned in response and put her head back in her hands.

"She didn't sleep at all," Artemis said.

"Maybe you should go back up to bed," Steph suggested.

"I've tried telling her that, but she says she has a lot of stuff to do today, and she needs to be awake for it," Artemis said.

"Well, clearly you're not awake, and you won't get any better unless you get some sleep," Steph said.

"I can't, Stephy, we have Holiday Actors practice, remember?" Christina said weakly.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. Well, we'd better hurry up and get ready, then, hadn't we," Steph said. Christina nodded and stared through the gap between her hands, her eyes catching sight of flashing in Steph's bag. _A Crystal Carrier? _Here?_ Who could that be?_ Christina wondered. A loud bark reached her ears, and she glanced through the window to see her black-and-white terrier cross, Lucky, walking around in his pool and trying to eat the water.

"Crazy dog," she murmured. _Lucky? Lucky's a Crystal Carrier? Well, I guess that if he's here, he'll be well protected._ Christina sighed and stood up wearily.

"I hope we're only doing singing today, I don't think I could manage having to do dancing all day long," she mumbled as she trudged upstairs to get ready.

* * *

"Morning, everyone! Where's Steph and Christina?" Dee asked, wandering downstairs to find Lucy, Artie, Bonnie and Phoenix sitting on the couch watching television.

"They went to Holiday Actors practice," Artie said.

"Oh, yeah, they're doing "Oklahoma!", right?" Bonnie asked. Artie nodded.

"I hope Christina does OK today, she didn't get to sleep at all last night. I know, neither did I. I usually go to sleep a while after she does," Artie said, before stifling a yawn.

"Well how about you go on up to bed, Artemis. Even if she can't get any sleep today, that doesn't mean that you can't," Bonnie said.

"Smart idea as usual, Bonnie. That's something that Mercurians have always had. I think I _will_ go have a bit of a catnap. Luna, you know where my computer is, and you know where I am if there's any trouble. See you later, guys," Artie said, before leaving the room.

"Well, what are we going to do today, guys?" Lucy asked.

"I dunno... I think it'd be wise to stay in the house, but at the same time I think it might be helpful for us to walk around town and see if we can find another Crystal Carrier," Phoenix said. Just then, a loud beep reached their ears, and Lucy changed forms and went to the closet where Artemis kept his computer. Opening the secret hatch, she found the computer switched on and her prediction program running, showing another pulsing black dot on the screen.

"Where is it this time, Luna?" Phoenix asked.

"I'm not sure, it doesn't look like Warrnambool to me," Luna said, pressing a few buttons.

"It's not. That's Dennington, and it looks like the same place that Steph and Christina are practicing at," Bonnie said.

"You're right, Bonnie, it is. We'd better get out there pronto," Luna said. The others nodded and began scrambling to get their bags organised. While they were getting ready, Luna transformed again and took out a piece of paper and a pen.

"Dear Artemis, we are heading out to Dennington to see Steph and Christina, as my program showed us that there'll be an attack out there. Please follow as soon as you can. From Luna," Lucy mumbled as she wrote. Leaving the note on the kitchen table, she followed the others out the door.

* * *

"I'm hungry. What should we have for lunch?" Steph asked, looking at the shelves of chocolate and lollies available in the milk bar near the practice hall. Christina shrugged and yawned, picking up a block of chocolate and taking it to counter to pay.

"I know we shouldn't be having chocolate, but I need the energy," Christina said, taking her change and then ripping open the packaging. She took a bite, then blinked as she spotted someone out the window. Swallowing her mouthful, she said, "Hey, isn't that Lucy?" Steph whirled around to see not only Lucy, but Bonnie, Dee and Phoenix too. She waved to them, and they smiled and entered the shop.

"What are you guys doing here?" Steph asked.

"We came to find you 'cause we have important news," Lucy said, lowering her voice. Steph and Christina followed them back out of the shop and over to a quiet area.

"What's up?" Christina asked, breaking off some chocolate and passing it around.

"My program said there'd be an attack here," Lucy said quietly.

"That means there's a Crystal Carrier here too, right? Who could that be?" Steph asked.

"Dunno, but keep an eye out," Lucy warned.

"We'll stick around just in case you need us," Bonnie added. Christina nodded.

"Sure. We'll give you a call if we need you," she said.

"Hey, Christina, I've been meaning to ask, but what do our Scout Powers do?" Dee asked.

"Well, they're not exactly "powers". They're more like the strength and agility of our past lives," Christina said, before glancing at her watch. "We'd better get back in there, our lunch break's almost over."

"Yeah, you're right. See you later, guys!" Steph called as she and Christina ran off towards the building where they were practicing.

"Well, now we wait," Phoenix said, sitting down on the grass. The others sighed and sat down too, none of them noticing a shadowy figure creeping towards the hall...

* * *

"Man, I'm exhausted, and we're only halfway through practice," Christina panted as she walked back to her starting position in the dance that they were practicing.

"Don't worry, Christina, It'll be over before you know it," a blonde girl smiled.

"Yeah, I know, Amy. I'm just really tired, that's all," Christina sighed, before the music started up again and they started dancing again for the tenth time.

"Feet in first position, girls! First position!" the choreographer's voice called over the music. Several girls looked down at their feet as they tried to comply with the order. Christina was fighting just to stay awake, having very little concern for what position her feet were in. Finally the music ended, and the girls sat down to watch the boys doing one of their dances.

"Anything from the Wand?" Christina whispered to Steph, who took her bag from behind her and opened it, her eyes widening when she saw the flashing from inside.

"Yeah, but who could it be?" she whispered back. Just then, the music stopped, and then a window shattered as a large youma burst through it.

"What do we do?" Steph asked above the screaming that had erupted amongst the group.

"Run."

"What?"

"We need to run, otherwise we can't transform," Christina whispered, digging her phone and her transformation pen out of her bag. She grabbed Steph's hand and ran towards the exit door, which was already packed with screaming teenagers. Dialling Artemis' number, she rammed the phone to her ear and jumped over a fence into a quiet yard.

"Artemis, there's a youma. The others are here, but I thought I should tell you," Christina said, before flipping her phone shut and grasping her transformation pen. "You ready?" Steph nodded.

"Moon Prism Power!"

"Venus Power!" Pink and orange lights flashed, and then the girls vaulted the fence and ran back towards the building, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter joining them as they ran.

"Let's take this thing down, guys!" Sailor Venus said, leading the group into the near-empty building, where a horrible scene greeted them. Several cast members were sprawled on the floor, unconscious, the youma was tipping over tables looking for more victims, and Zoisite was advancing towards someone they couldn't see. "Stop right there, Zoisite!" Zoisite turned at the sound of Sailor Venus' voice, revealing the person she was standing over. _Amy? Amy's the Crystal Carrier?_

"All of these teenagers are focused on their acting, and you go and interrupt them! I won't forgive that! I'm Sailor Moon!"

"I'm Sailor Mercury!"

"I'm Sailor Mars!"

"I'm Sailor Jupiter!"

"And I'm Sailor Venus! And in the name of our guardian planets..."

"We shall punish you!" the Scouts chorused.

"Sorry, little Scouts, but I don't have the time for you today. Get them!" she yelled to her youma, pointing at the Scouts, who instantly went into battle poses. As the youma launched itself at the Scouts, Zoisite sighed happily and turned back to Amy. "Now that they're busy, I can finish what I came for. Zoi!" Zoisite yelled, holding out her black crystal. The waves of black energy did as they always did, opening a hole in Amy's chest to reveal a glowing crystal floating inside. This time it was the Yellow Crystal. Zoisite grabbed it as it floated towards her and turned just in time to see her youma evaporate from a Crescent Beam Smash. Sailor Venus leveled her finger between Zoisite's eyes.

"Give me that Crystal," Sailor Venus hissed.

"Sorry, but I don't think I will. I'm on a tight schedule, too, so I'll be going. Have fun with Amarillo! Ciao!" Zoisite said, before laughing and disappearing in a cloud of black petals. Sailor Venus sunk to her knees, shaking in anger.

"Venus?" Sailor Moon asked timidly.

"Darn it! Not again!" Sailor Venus yelled, unable to hold her anger in any longer.

"It's OK, we'll get it back," Mercury said. Venus got slowly to her feet, tears of rage filling her eyes.

"No, it's not OK! None of you get it! You don't understand just how important our mission is! This is the fate of the world we're talking about! I-" Sailor Venus paused, thinking about what she was about to say, then decided against it and ran out of the room, passing Artemis, who was walking in just then.

"Should we go after her?" Sailor Moon asked.

"No, let her go. She probably just needs some time to clear her head. It won't take all five of you to heal Amarillo," Artemis said. Just then, a ray of dark energy erupted around Amy, which faded to reveal a large yellow dragon with black eyes.

"Amarillo," Luna breathed.

"Moon Healing- Ouch!" Sailor Moon yelped, leaping backwards away from the bright yellow flames that Amarillo breathed at her.

"We need to distract her!" Mercury yelled, before levitating the water out of a nearby drink bottle and creating an Ice Sword.

"Hey, that's cool! Let me try!" Mars said, creating a stream of fire in the air. Focusing her mind, she managed to form a Fire Sword. Jupiter grinned and did the same with a large bolt of lightning, creating a Lightning Sword. The three Scouts charged towards the yellow dragon-youma and waved their swords in front of her snout. Amarillo breathed a jet of bright yellow fire at the girls, but Mars sensed the movement and blocked the attack with her Fire Sword, which absorbed the yellow flames easily.

"That's it, Mars! Just like we did in training! Sense your opponent's movement!" Artemis called, smiling. Mars didn't reply, instead blocking another jet of flames.

"I can't keep this up forever, you know! Hurry up and heal her, Sailor Moon!" Mars yelled, running away from Amarillo's long tail.

"Right, sorry! Moon Healing Activation!" Sailor Moon called. Silver glitter and mist floated through the air and surrounded Amarillo, who howled in pain as her eyes changed from black to brown. Yellow sparkles filled the air around her, and then she changed back into Amy.

"Thank goodness that's over. Let's go home," Artemis said.

"I guess this means that practice is over, then, huh?" Mercury said.

"Looks that way," Luna said, nodding.

"You guys head home and wait for Chrissy. I'll stick around and help the others," Sailor Moon said, glancing around at the cast members sprawled around the room.

"OK. What are you going to tell them about where Christina is?" Artemis asked.

"I'm not sure..."

"How about you tell them that Christina ran away when the youma attacked, and she ran all the way home? That sounds reasonable," Mercury said.

"OK, I will. See you later, guys, Sailor Moon said, before detransforming. The others smiled and left. Steph looked around at the shattered glass and upturned tables, and sighed.

"Won't we ever get a break?"

* * *

_How can they not see how important out mission is?_ Sailor Venus thought angrily as she ran down the road. Her anger increased as Artemis' words echoed through her head. _"You're fighting for the wrong reasons, can't you see that?" Yeah, easy for you to say, Artemis. You're not responsible if the world ends._ Her thoughts turned to the scene after Zoisite took the Yellow Crystal, and immediately Sailor Venus felt sick with guilt, her pace slowing to a walk. _I shouldn't have yelled at them... It's not their fault they don't remember everything I do. They're not the ones who keep losing the Rainbow Crystals, I am. Why do I keep losing them! Man, this is so frustrating... I'm supposed to be the Princess, and I keep failing. Surely they must've figured it out by now... Surely they must've noticed that some things don't quite add up, and I'm not quite who I'm supposed to be... I guess I have changed a lot since I became V... I don't know how much longer I can keep this act up... I came close to blabbing today... I shouldn't have done that, Artemis and I have worked so hard to get things just right... Some Scout I am. I'm supposed to be the Scout of Love, and here I am stopping it. What am I doing? Should I even be doing this at all? Maybe I should just let the other Scouts handle things... They did pretty good without me... _With such a poisonous cocktail of emotions raging through her, Sailor Venus was struggling to prevent herself from sinking to the ground and crying. Suddenly, a burst of negative energy hit her senses, and she whirled around, glancing left and right while trying to pinpoint the source.

"Hello, Princess." Sailor Venus froze as she heard the voice behind her and realised who it was.

"What do you want, Kunzite?" she asked, hatred filling her tone

"My, my, my. So feisty. You want to know what it is I'm here for, little Princess?" Kunzite asked. Sailor Venus whirled around, but Kunzite had vanished.

"Where are you! I'm not in the mood to play games with you! Get back here and tell me what you want!" Sailor Venus yelled.

"What I want..." Kunzite said, appearing behind Sailor Venus, who whirled around to face him, noticing a round, black, tennis-ball-sized crystal in his hand. He smiled, then threw the crystal against the pavement, smashing it and filling the air with black smoke. The smoke cloud wafted over Sailor Venus and trapped her.

"What do you want?" Sailor Venus coughed, her vision turning as black as the smoke around her. As her vision faded, she felt all the negative emotions in her heart growing, until all that she could feel was the negativity. Kunzite grinned as the smoke vanished, revealing Sailor Venus lying on the ground, unconscious.

"What I want... Is you," Kunzite whispered, before he and Sailor Venus vanished.


	11. Mars and the Red Crystal

Steph: Hey, has anyone seen Chrissy? She should be here by now to do the disclaimer.

Dee: I haven't seen her since she left during the battle.

Artemis: Something feels really weird here... Well, I guess I'll do the disclaimer, since Christina isn't here to do it. Sparrowflyaway does not own Sailor Moon, PGSM or Arnotts.

Bonnie: Who's been in my biscuits? There's hardly any left!

Artemis: Uh-oh...

* * *

"Where's Christina? It's getting late, she should be back by now," Phoenix said, glancing at the front door. Artie frowned at the eerily red sunset out the window.

"Is it just me, or does something seem... not quite right?" Dee asked.

"I'm thinking the same thing, Dee. This sunset is too strange... it's clouded with negative energy," Artie frowned.

"What do you mean? How can a sunset be clouded with negative energy?" Steph asked.

"It's just got a huge sense of foreboding and darkness coming off of it. See how red the sky is?" Artie asked, turning to them and pointing out at the sunset.

"Yeah, so? I've seen sunsets like that before," Steph said.

"And when was that, exactly?" Artie asked, turning back to the window.

"A few weeks before Christmas last year."

"Exactly. That's when Beryl broke out again, and I knew I'd have to search for Christina. I would have preferred that you five led normal lives, but the situation demanded the Scouts. There was another sunset like this in the Silver Millennium. That was the night before Queen Beryl attacked and destroyed the Moon Kingdom," Artie said gravely.

"So what do you think this one means?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't know, but I know it means bad news for us and for Earth," Artie said. The girls jumped a little as they heard a buzzing, and then Dee pulled her phone from her pocket and flipped it open.

"Hello? Oh, hi, Mum. ...Really? ...Are you sure you should? Things are still really dangerous down here... Well, that's true... OK. I'll see you tomorrow, then. Bye," she said, before flipping her phone shut.

"What was that about?" Lucy asked.

"Mum and my brothers Jake and Alex are coming down tomorrow to have an early Christmas lunch with me," Dee said, slipping her phone back into her pocket.

"I'm not sure that's very safe, considering how hectic things are," Artie said, frowning.

"Yeah, I know, but I'll be there, and I'll call you if the Negaverse shows up," Dee said. Lucy nodded, then sat up alertly, her eyes widening as a surge of negative energy flowed down her spine.

"I sense something, but it's much stronger than just a simple youma," Lucy said.

"One of the Generals?" Steph asked.

"It's either that, or Beryl herself," Artie said, frowning.

"We'd better transform, then. Moon Prism Power!"

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!" an instant later, the Scouts ran out the front door and skidded to a stop as they recognised the figure sitting on the gate.

"Kunzite. What are you doing here?" Mercury asked. Kunzite grinned and clicked his fingers, causing a large clear bubble to materialize next to him. The Scouts gasped as they recognised the unconscious figure sprawled inside it.

"Chrissy! Give her back, you freak!" Sailor Moon yelled. Kunzite clicked his fingers again, and a much smaller bubble appeared beside the first, The Scouts' eyes widening as they realised that the smaller bubble contained Christina's Transformation Pen.

"I'm surprised, girls. Your Princess, despite all the trouble she's caused for the Negaverse, put up very little resistance when I confronted her alone. How pathetic," Kunzite said, shaking his head.

"Don't speak about our Princess that way, you have no right to!" Lucy yelled. Kunzite chuckled.

"Your Princess, Scouts, is no more," he said.

"What did you do to her?" Mercury yelled, her eyes blazing in anger. Kunzite didn't reply, instead looking sideways at Christina's Transformation Pen. As they all watched, a dark purple patch appeared on the orange handle and spread until the orange had vanished. Kunzite's grin widened, and he clicked his fingers, causing the bubbles to float down to the foot of the gates and pop, depositing their contents onto the ground. The Scouts stepped nervously forward, wondering what to expect. As they approached, Christina stirred and opened her eyes, revealing the enormity of the darkness inside her.

"Chrissy..." Sailor Moon whispered, her eyes widening in horror. The others could only stare in horror too as Christina picked up her Transformation Pen and got to her feet, then grinned at them.

"Shall I show you the new me?" Christina asked, fingering her Transformation Pen.

"Go ahead, Princess," Kunzite said.

"Don't give me orders, Kunzite. I don't take orders from anyone, you got that?" Christina said, glancing over her shoulder at Kunzite, who scowled. Christina turned back to the scouts and thrust her Transformation Pen into the air.

"Venus Dark Power!" Black and purple love hearts began pouring out of the Pen, transforming her clothes into her usual Scout outfit. Then, a split second later, they changed her collar, her skirt, her choker and the stripes on her gloves to dark purple. The black-and-purple love hearts then changed her orange boots and all three of her bows to black, and the golden crescent moon on her forehead to a shiny black one. The new Venus posed and grinned at the other Scouts, who looked close to tears.

"Dark Venus. The darkness in your heart made turning you so much easier. Now destroy the other Sailor Scouts!" Kunzite ordered. Dark Venus turned around and placed her hands on her hips.

"Weren't you listening? I said I don't take orders from anyone. Especially not some failure like you," Dark Venus said. Kunzite glared at her angrily, but remained silent.

"Artemis," Dark Venus said, turning to her guardian.

"Christina..." Artie said weakly.

"You once told me that I was fighting for the wrong reasons," Dark Venus said.

"I know, but what's-"

"You were right."

"What?"

"You were right, Artemis. For how can one fight for the right reasons... When one is fighting for the wrong side?"

"You're on the wrong side now!" Artie pleaded. Dark Venus ignored his comment, instead turning to the other Scouts.

"Who's first?" she asked. Her question was met by confused and uneasy looks between the others. "Come on, who's gonna fight me first?"

"We can't fight you, Christina, you're our friend!" Mercury said. Dark Venus' smile faded, and she conjured up four purple-and-black arrows, which aimed at the other four Scouts.

"You're not going to give up just like that, are you? I expected more from you, girls," Dark Venus said.

"Girls, you have to fight," Artie said.

"What? We can't do that, Artemis!" Mars said, turning to him incredulously.

"If the only way to get her back to normal is to fight her, then fight her!" Artie said impatiently.

"I'm waiting!" Dark Venus called.

"Chrissy, snap out of it! This isn't the real you!" Sailor Moon yelled. Dark Venus frowned.

"You guys have no idea who the real me is. Now are we going to fight or not?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, Chrissy," Sailor Moon whispered, reaching for her tiara. "Moon Tiara Magic!" the glowing tiara flew through the air towards Dark Venus, who backflipped out of the way and grabbed the tiara out of the air. She tossed the tiara back to Sailor Moon, shaking her head.

"I know you've got better than that," Dark Venus said, conjuring a black-and-purple sword.

Mercury frowned and drew a stream of water from the pond in the front garden, which she froze into an Ice Sword.

"You're gonna fight me, Mercury? Good, I'm glad one of you decided to step up," Dark Venus smiled.

"You've got to wake up, Christina! Please, you have to remember us!" Mercury pleaded.

"I do remember, Bonnie. Now come on, give me your best shot," Dark Venus said. Mercury took a deep breath and steeled herself to her task, then swung her sword at Dark Venus, who ducked under it and swatted Mercury with the flat part of her sword blade, knocking her to the ground, the Ice Sword clattering out of her grasp. Dark Venus stepped back, shaking her head. "You're heart's not in it, Mercury. You're leaving yourself open to attack," she said, staring down at her friend. Mercury grabbed her sword and scrambled to her feet, then swung at Dark Venus again, who stepped back to avoid the blow. Mercury swung her sword around and attacked again, but Dark Venus ducked and swung her sword, tracing a thin cut on Mercury's cheek. Dark Venus then used the momentum from her swing and twirled around, jabbed Mercury in the back with the hilt of her sword and sending her sprawling to the ground again.

"Come on, Mercs, I know you've got better than that in you," Dark Venus said, raising her sword. Mars and Jupiter responded by conjuring swords of their own, which they used to knock Dark Venus' sword away before she could consider bringing it down on Mercury. Dark Venus grinned.

"About time you guys joined in," she said, raising her sword again. Mercury scrambled to her feet again, the cut on her cheek expelling blue sparks. "You gonna play too, Stephy?"

"Sailor Moon, try turning your Tiara into a sword!" Lucy called. Sailor Moon nodded and focused on her tiara, which glowed a soft pink and then grew into a sword.

"That's more like it," Dark Venus said, nodding. A split second later, the five swords were clashing together, sparks flying as Dark Venus' sword connected fiercely with the other four. For a second, the action stopped, with Dark Venus' sword pressed firmly against Sailor Moon's.

"Chrissy, please, stop it," Sailor Moon pleaded, looking into her friend's cold eyes. Dark Venus' eyes flashed in pain, and she pushed Sailor Moon's sword away and staggered back, clutching her head, her sword falling from her hand and sinking into the dirt by her side.

"Enough!" Kunzite shouted, leaping forward and grabbing Dark Venus' arm, before the both of them vanished, leaving the others staring at the spot where they had been.

"What just happened?" Lucy asked, confused.

"I have no idea," Jupiter said, looking equally as confused. Artie sighed.

"I knew something was wrong, but I never, ever thought that it would be something like this," he said.

"I don't think any of us could have seen this coming, Artemis," Lucy said, placing a hand gently on his shoulder.

"Hey, guys? Come have a look at this," Mercury said, pulling Dark Venus' sword from the ground and brushing the dirt off of it, then laying it on the ground so that they could see it.

"What is it, Bonnie?" Lucy asked. Mercury simply pointed at the blade of the sword, where they could make out a black patch with purple lines on it. They looked closer, then exchanged worried looks when they read the words, "Get some rest, girls, I expect more of a challenge next time we meet."

"Christina's right about one thing, guys. We really do need to get to bed," Lucy said. The Scouts nodded slowly and went back inside. Lucy transformed into her cat form and followed, leaving Artie standing outside staring at the message on the sword. _Oh, Christina... When did things get this bad?_ Artie asked silently, lifting his head to stare out at the red sunset.

* * *

Christina gasped in pain and sank to her knees on the cold stone floor of the cavern that Kunzite had transported them to. She felt a pair of arms lift her rather roughly and place her inside a large metal pod, which closed and began filling with purple smoke. A flash of fear shot through her, but the smoke flowed into her lungs and cooled the fiery pain that was coursing through her body. Exhausted and relieved at having her pain disappear, Christina closed her eyes, dimly aware of the figure watching her from outside the pod.

Kunzite stared down through a window in the pod, watching his prisoner thoughtfully.

"Those girls have more of an influence on you than I thought... But no matter. Your resistance is futile, little Princess. You belong to the Negaverse now, and there's nothing you or your friends can do about it."

"You're wrong," a thin voice hissed. Kunzite peered through the pod's window to see the gold crescent moon flickering in and out of view on Christina's forehead, her eyes barely open.

"You can't... can't keep me locked up forever, freako," Christina hissed weakly, before falling unconscious. Kunzite frowned and jabbed the button on the side of the pod, making the chamber fill with smoke again.

"We'll see about that," Kunzite muttered, before sliding a window cover up, hiding Christina from view. _The true Scout inside her is trying to fight back._ Kunzite grinned and jabbed the button again. _We'll just have to shut that annoying little voice in a cage, where it can't do any harm. _Kunzite frowned, wondering when and how to tell his Queen of his marvellous idea in a way that wouldn't make her furious with him. He shuddered as he thought of his two fellow Generals, locked in dungeons far beneath him for failing to defeat the Princess when she was Sailor V.

* * *

Steph and Luna stepped inside Christina's bedroom and closed the door, both looking sadly at Christina's bed. Steph changed into her pyjamas slowly, thinking about how different Christina had become since she revealed herself as the Princess. _I didn't notice, but she definitely got less and less fun-loving over the past few days. She was so focused on those crystals, she almost stopped focusing on life._ _"...that Crystal is part of the Imperium Silver Crystal! That's the most powerful crystal in the universe! If the Negaverse gets hold of it, we're all doomed!" If we had that Crystal, then maybe..._

"Luna?"

"Yes, Steph?"

"I think we need to get the Silver Crystal."

"What made you think about the Crystal, Steph?"

"Well Chrissy said that it's the most powerful Crystal in the universe, so I just thought... surely it's got enough power to bring her back to normal," Steph said.

"Good idea, Steph, but don't you remember that Artemis said that the key to the seven Rainbow Crystals becoming the Silver Crystal was for the Princess to fully awaken?"

"Oh yeah... well that's not as helpful as I'd hoped."

"We'll get her back, Steph, try not to worry."

"I hope you're right, Luna. I hope you're right."

* * *

Phoenix climbed into bed and curled up on her side, thinking about Christina. _She must've been seriously worried about something, otherwise Kunzite wouldn't have been able to turn her at all..._ Phoenix rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, Christina's rage-filled words echoing through her mind. _"You don't understand just how important our mission is! This is the fate of the world we're talking about!" She obviously knew something really important about the past... but if it was that important, then why didn't she share it with us? We came from the same life as she did... How are we supposed to understand how important our mission is if we can't remember and the only one who does isn't willing to tell us? _Phoenix sighed and switched off the bedside lamp, plunging the room into darkness.

* * *

"Things just get crazier every day, don't they, Bonnie," Dee said, pulling the blankets back and climbing into bed. Bonnie, who was already under the covers of her bed, glanced over at Dee, who rubbed away a few tears.

"You can say that again," Bonnie murmured, before switching the light off. Dee sighed and pulled the blankets up to her chin. _"__...they're not exactly "powers". They're more like the strength and agility of our past lives__." Maybe if __I awaken my Scout Powers, then we'll be able to get Christina back._

"Hey, Bonnie?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we'd be able to get Christina back if I awakened my Scout Powers?"

"That might help, but I don't know how much help it'd actually be. It'd probably be more helpful if Christina could awaken her own Scout Powers."

"But she remembers the past life fully. Doesn't that mean that she's awakened her Scout Powers?"

"Not necessarily. She said that awakening our Powers would give us our memories, but she's never actually said whether or not that rule applied to her too, or whether or not she's awakened her own Scout Powers. Plus, things may not work exactly the way she says. After all, both me and Nixx have awakened our Scout Powers, and neither of us have any memories yet."

"You have a point there, Bonnie... Well, I guess thinking about it won't help us. We should get to sleep. Goodnight, Bonnie."

"Goodnight, Dee," Bonnie said, before rolling over and staring up at the glowing numbers on the alarm clock beside the bed. _She must've had a lot on her mind, to snap at me like that. "I guess I'm just kinda stressed at the moment." Yeah, apparently that's a major understatement. Those Crystals weren't your only concern, were they, Christina,_ Bonnie asked silently. _I wish you'd talked to one of us about your problems... We might've been able to help you. _Bonnie sighed and closed her eyes, fighting to hold back her tears._ We'll get you back, Christina, no matter what it takes.

* * *

_

Artie quietly closed the door to Christina's bedroom and looked down at Steph and Luna, who were both sleeping peacefully. _They went down quickly, even though they must've had a lot on their minds,_ Artie mused, lifting up the mattress of Christina's bed and pulling out a small white lockable diary, smiling a little at the carefully drawn Venus symbol on the front. Artie placed the diary on the bed and then carefully opened the top drawer of the bedside table, where he found a tiny silver key taped to the inside. Unlocking the diary, Artie sat down on Christina's bed to read.

"Dear Diary, Today was a fun day. I finally managed to save up enough money for Pokemon Sapphire, and boy, was it ever worth it! My favourite Pokemon in the game would have to be my Torchic, Pepper. She's so strong! She totally wiped the floor with my rival's Mudkip, even though she's weak against it." _She used to be so light-hearted and carefree,_ Artie thought sadly, reading several more diary entries detailing her Pokemon battles. He flipped ahead a few pages and smiled a little when he looked at another entry, dated roughly two weeks before the previous Christmas. "Dear Diary, Today this weird white cat followed me home. He hopped on my bus and just sat on the seat opposite me for the rest of the way home, then got off the bus at the same time as me and followed me. I kept looking over my shoulder and seeing him standing a few steps behind me. Whenever I stopped, he stopped. It was so creepy, he just kept staring at me. The funny thing is, I feel like I've met this cat somewhere before. Of course, that's absolutely crazy, since I've never seen a cat with a gold crescent moon on its forehead before." Artie chuckled quietly to himself, remembering the very first day he had met Christina. He turned the page and continued to read the entry. "What's even crazier, though, is that the cat actually talked! It was so weird, hearing a cat talk to me. Artemis(that's his name) told me I'm a 'Sailor Scout', whatever that means. We heard a siren, and Artemis gave me a fancy pen and told me to use it to transform. I did, and became Sailor V, Crime Fighter Extraordinaire! That was pretty cool, but stopping the burglar wasn't quite as much fun as I thought, and it was a lot harder too, but boy, does it ever give you an awesome feeling! The guy almost got me with this massive knife he had, but I managed to get away from it. Oh, and I found one of my powers during that fight, which was a big surprise. I pointed at the guy and told him to put down his knife, and all of a sudden this yellow beam of energy shot out of my finger and blasted the knife right out of his hand! I think the guy realised he didn't stand a chance, 'cause he surrendered pretty quickly after that. I'm pretty sure that people'll be talking about the new hero Sailor V, seeing as the store's surveillance cameras were going then. Oh well, it might be fun to be a celebrity! Although the paparazzi may get a little annoying when I've caught the burglars... Over and Out, Christina." _She figured out how right she was pretty quickly,_ Artie mused, thinking about how annoying camera crews had gotten in the way when V was trying to follow one of a trio of burglars, having already caught the first two. Artie shook his head at the Terrans' stupidity, then flipped through another few pages, stopping again when he found an entry dated about halfway through the year. "Dear Diary, I didn't go to school today, 'cause I spent most of the day in bed with a massive migraine. There's no way I'm gonna tell Mum, but that migraine came from a flood of memories about my past life, which I think was caused by a nightmare I had last night. I dreamt that I was on the Moon wearing a really cool orange-blue-and-white outfit, and blasting lots of these creepy monsters with my "V Beam", as I called it(it's actually called a Venus Crescent Beam, according to my memories). Then I turned around, and there was this creepy white-haired guy there, but I felt like I knew him, and that we were once good friends. Anyway, this guy pulled out a knife and lunged forward, and then I woke up. Turns out that that dream wasn't actually a dream, but one of my memories from the Silver Millennium. There are some things that I prefer to think about more than others, like the memories of the Moon Palace rather than the memories of the Last Battle, which was what my nightmare was about. But I also remember my mission from the Silver Millennium. It's a pretty daunting mission, considering that I'm supposed to protect Earth and all the people on it all by my lonesome. I remember talking to some other Sailor Scouts, and I suspect that they've probably been reborn in this lifetime too, as I doubt I'd be the only one. Hopefully we can find them soon, I don't really wanna have the fate of the world resting purely on my shoulders. I don't think I'm strong enough for that, I'm having enough trouble as it is keeping my double life a secret. Oh well, I just hope this stupid migraine goes away so that I can think straight, I don't want to have to fight burglars when I feel this awful. Over and Out, Christina." _She was right, she wasn't strong enough to have the fate of the world resting on her shoulders alone,_ Artie thought sadly._ I should've seen it coming, she was getting more and more stressed under her burden, it's no wonder she snapped. Maybe we shouldn't have made up that story... things have only been getting worse since then... _Artie sighed and wiped away a tear, then flipped through a few more pages to a short entry dated only a few days ago, on the 15th: two days before her birthday. "Dear Diary, Well, all of the Scouts are back together(except for me, of course), and boy, is it ever a relief. I hope that now that there's five of us, we'll be able to defeat the Negaverse once and for all. Artemis told me today about a plan that he's been working on for a few days, one that should throw the Negaverse off. I'd much rather be myself, and I sure don't like lying to my friends, but if it'll help us to defeat the Negaverse, then I'm willing to give it a try. Over and Out, Christina." _I wish I'd never come up with that stupid plan,_ Artie thought sadly. _It cost us one of our own._ Artie read the last few entries, noticing that Christina mentioned her worry, doubt and frustration more and more often with each entry. Shaking his head sadly, Artie shut and locked the diary again, then returned both the diary and the key to their hiding places. He changed back into his cat form and curled up on the bed, tears shining in his cerulean-blue eyes. _I'm so sorry, Christina...

* * *

_

"Morning, girls, how'd you sleep?" Artemis asked, walking downstairs to find Bonnie, Dee, Phoenix and Lucy sitting on the couch in silence.

"Not that great, Artemis. None of us could stop thinking about Christina," Bonnie said. The others nodded in agreement.

"I know what you mean. I'm worried about her... By the way, where's Steph?" Artemis asked.

"Still upstairs in bed, I think," Lucy said.

"Well, I think we should get ready and head down to the Base to do some Scout Training today. The Negaverse isn't about to stop attacking just because we're not ready to fight them again," Artemis said.

"You have a point, Artemis, but I wouldn't mind taking things at a slower pace today. I don't think anyone's in the mood for it," Phoenix said.

"So what are we going to do in Scout Training, then?" Dee asked.

"We'll decide when we get down there. For now, I'll go wake Steph and get her going, and then we'll head down to the Base," Artemis said, before heading back upstairs. He head a faint piano tune echoing from the other side of Christina's bedroom door, and opened it to find Steph seated on the floor with her eyes closed.

"Um... Steph?" Artemis asked quietly. Steph slowly opened her eyes and blinked at Artemis, then picked up her phone and switched the music off.

"Sorry, Artemis, I was just meditating. It helps me when I'm stressed or worried. Is something wrong?" Steph asked. Artemis shook his head.

"No, there's nothing wrong. In fact, I think you may have solved our problem."

"What problem?"

"The others want to take it easy today, but I think we should still do some training. We were trying to come up with something to do in Training today that didn't involve using too much effort."

"OK... But I don't see how I helped..."

"Steph, do you think you'd be able to teach the others how to do meditation?"

"Wha- Sure, that's no problem, we just need a dark room, somewhere soft to sit, and some nice gentle music," Steph said.

"Well, we can get all of that down at the Base. Come on, let's go tell the others the plan," Artemis said, before leading Steph back downstairs.

* * *

"I wish Christina could be here to do this with us," Dee said, sitting down on the couch in the Base.

"Me too, but for now we need to focus on our Scout Training," Artie said, opening a hatch in the blue wall and taking out a CD case.

"This place has an in-built stereo system?" Steph asked.

"Yeah, that was something that Christina requested," Artie said, pressing a button and opening a small slot in the wall, which he inserted the CD into. He pushed the slot closed and pressed another button, and gentle piano music began drifting through the room. Satisfied, Artie settled onto the couch next to the others. "Take it away, Steph."

"OK. Well, first we'll try to find your happy place. That could be anywhere in the world, or anything in your imagination. So everyone, close your eyes. I want you to focus on the music, and then let it take to you that happy place. Don't force it, just let it come. When you find your happy place, let me know." Right away, Lucy and Artie nodded. Then Steph looked at Dee in concern as she gasped. "What is it, Dee?"

"I can see... Christina... She's... sitting next to me..."

"What's she doing?"

"She's... talking... it's so cold... there's lots of people there too... they're all asleep..."

"OK, I think it's time to come out now. Everyone, slowly open your eyes," Steph said. The others did as they were told and blinked a few times as they came out of their meditative trances.

"What happened there, Artemis? Dee started seeing Chrissy," Steph said.

"Yeah, that was really weird," Dee said. Artemis frowned.

"The meditation may be amplifying your precognitive abilities and enabling you to see visions without using Fire Reading," he said thoughtfully.

"So... what I saw... It's really going to happen?" Dee asked.

"I think so... maybe you should do a bit of Fire Reading and check," Artie said. Dee nodded and went over to her Fire Reading platform. Within minutes, Dee was settled in front of the crackling fire, staring deep into it and trying to get a vision from it.

"You're forcing it, Dee. It's just like finding your happy place. Just let it come," Artie said. Dee closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then resumed her Fire Reading, this time getting a vision almost instantly. After about a minute, she nodded and extinguished the fire, then stood up.

"You were right, Artemis. It _was_ a vision I saw while I was meditating," Dee said. Artie nodded, then glanced at his watch and gasped.

"Oh, wow, it's nearly lunchtime! Weren't you going to have lunch with your mum and your brothers, Dee?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that with everything else that's been happening. I'd better go get ready. See you later, guys!" Dee said, before running up the stairs and slamming the door behind her.

"Well, I think that was rather productive, considering how short the session was. How about you girls go for a walk and see if any more Crystal Carriers show up," Lucy said.

"Good idea, Luna. A walk would give you girls a chance to clear your heads too," Artie said.

"OK. We'll see you later, guys. Call if you need us," Steph said, before leading the others up the stairs and out of the Base, leaving Lucy and Artie sitting on the couch.

"That was odd how quickly Dee tapped into that vision," Lucy remarked.

"Yes, and did you notice how effectively she tuned into her senses yesterday?" Artie asked.

"You think she could be next," Lucy said, making it more of a statement than a question. Artie nodded.

"Yes, I just hope that Christina doesn't do anything to any of the others. Especially Dee, if that vision's anything to go by," Artie said.

* * *

Christina slowly opened her eyes and stared up at the metal pod she was in. _Where am I? _she wondered, before the previous night came flooding back. _What was that pain? It felt like something inside me was trying to blast its way out... oh well. That purple smoke fixed it pretty quick. Stupid thing, it's just as weak as I was._ Christina shook her head and pushed the pod open, finding Kunzite standing there watching her.

"Oh, it's you. What do you want?" she asked, sitting up and staring at him.

"I've come to take you to meet Queen Beryl," Kunzite replied. Christina stood up and stared pointedly at him, and he led her through winding corridors to a pair of huge purple doors. "Mind you behave yourself, Queen Beryl won't like it if you're disrespectful," Kunzite said, before pushing the doors open and leading her inside. On one side of the dark, cavern-like room, there were about a dozen youma, all bowed respectfully. On the other side was a large black throne, on which was seated a tall woman with bright red hair, which contrasted vividly against her purple dress. The woman's eyes widened in anger when she saw Christina.

"Kunzite! What is the meaning of this?" she barked. Kunzite recoiled from the anger in her voice.

"Please, Queen Beryl, let me explain," Kunzite began.

"You had better have a very good reason for bringing _her_ here, Kunzite," Beryl hissed.

"I brought the Princess here because quite simply, the Sailor Scouts look to her for guidance and support. They'll surely crumble without her," Kunzite said, bowing. Queen Beryl frowned.

"And your doubts that I can control the Imperium Silver Crystal had no influence on your decision?" she hissed. Kunzite gasped, startled that his Queen knew of his doubts.

"Ha, as if you could control the Crystal," Christina said scornfully. Beryl glared at her and waved her hand over the black crystal ball beside her throne, which gave off a wave of dark energy that threw Christina backwards. There was a resounding thud as she landed hard on her back on the stone floor, the impact knocking the breath out of her.

"Don't you dare speak to _me_ that way, you little brat," Beryl hissed. Christina clambered to her feet, seething. "Get out of here, both of you, before I destroy you both." Christina glared at Beryl for a moment, before turning on her heel and marching out of the throne room. Kunzite bowed to Queen Beryl and followed, frowning. _That didn't go quite as well as I had hoped, he thought. It's all Dark Venus' fault, she made me look bad_. Pulling himself from his thoughts, he found Christina standing in the middle of the corridor with her hand on her hips.

"Kunzite, I have no intention of hanging on your arm like some pet parrot. I intend to come and go whenever and wherever I like, so I would much rather that I had some way of getting to and from this place easily," Christina said pointedly. Kunzite frowned.

"Alright, I'll make you a deal. You help Zoisite get the next Rainbow Crystal, and I'll make you something that will allow you to teleport to and from the Negaverse at will," Kunzite said. Christina tilted her head thoughtfully, a cheeky grin spreading over her face.

"As long as Zoisite lets me have fun with the Scouts, you've got yourself a deal," she said, before turning on her heel and walking away. Kunzite sighed. _This girl's turning out to be a lot more __trouble than I originally thought.

* * *

_

Christina wandered through the maze-like corridors of the Negaverse, her senses tingling with familiar negative energy. She finally found a large cavern containing a huge black crystal, which Zoisite was staring up at.

"Hello, Zoisite," Christina said coolly, noticing a purple case near the large crystal and sensing the energy of two Rainbow Crystals coming from it. Zoisite spun at the sound of her voice, her eyes widening in anger when she saw who it was.

"What are you doing here?" Zoisite hissed.

"Haven't you heard? You and I are going to be working together."

"What... You... Me... Work together? I'll never," Zoisite spluttered. Christina shook her head.

"Eloquent as ever, I see. Don't worry, as long as you let me have a little fun with the Scouts, you can get on with removing Crystals from innocent Terrans. That is what you do best, after all, isn't it," Christina said, staring at Zoisite, who seemed shocked and confused at Christina's words. "Oh, and by the way, I know who one of the Crystal Carriers is."

"Who?"

"Somehow, I find it unlikely that it'll be the next one."

"Who is the Crystal Carrier that you know about?" Zoisite asked impatiently. Christina tilted her head and stared sceptically at her.

"You don't think I'm going to tell you, do you? That wouldn't be any fun at all," she said. Zoisite glared at her angrily.

"You don't even know who one of the Crystal Carriers is, do you."

"I do, actually, but my way's more fun. Who's the next Crystal Carrier?"

"I was just about to check," Zoisite replied, taking out her black crystal and holding it up to the larger black one before them. The small black crystal released waves of dark energy, which washed over the large crystal and created an image of a young brown-haired boy.

"There he is..." Zoisite smiled.

"Nope, that's not the one that I know about," Christina said. Zoisite ignored her comment, instead staring up at the picture to remember it when she found the boy. _I remember seeing this kid's photo..._ Christina mused. _That's Dee's brother. _"What are we waiting for? Let's get going!"

"Not so fast, Princess, my Crystal needs charging," Zoisite said, placing her black Crystal into a small hole at the bottom of the larger one.

"You need to charge that thing before you can use it?" Christina said scornfully, shaking her head. She rolled her eyes, then turned and left. "Call me when it's finished. I'm going to explore," she called over her shoulder. Zoisite glared after her, then turned back to the large Crystal in front of her, fighting down her anger. _Easy,_ she thought, taking a deep breath. _She won't be laughing soon. The way she's going she'll infuriate Queen Beryl and get herself obliterated.

* * *

_

"Where could they be? I thought they'd be here by now," Dee wondered, looking around the car park of The Flying Horse Bar and Brewery. Hey eyes lit up as she saw a familiar car pull into a car park and her family climb out. "Hi, Mum! Hi, Jake! Hi, Alex!" Dee called, waving to them. Next minute, Dee was swept up in a huge hug that was full of joy.

"Oh, Dee, we've been so worried about you. How have you been? Have you been eating your three meals a day, and getting plenty of rest?" Mrs Hino asked, holding her daughter at arm's length and looking at her.

"Yes, Mum, stop worrying. My friends and I have been taking care of each other. ...Mostly," she added, a wave of worry sweeping over her.

"What do you mean? What's happened?" her mum asked.

"Long story short, Mum, one of my friends – one of the Scouts, to be precise – got turned evil," Dee said sadly. Her brothers' eyes widened in shock at hearing one of the Sailor Scouts had been turned.

"Oh, dear. I can see why you're so worried. But I know you'll be able to get her back. You're the Sailor Scout of Mars, we believe in you," Mrs Hino said, pulling her daughter into another hug.

"Thanks, Mum," Dee said, a small smile forming on her face. She pulled away from her mum and then hugged both her brothers at once.

"Hey, Dee. We missed you," Alex said.

"Yeah, it was incredible hearing about all the stuff going on down here and knowing you're in the middle of it!" Jake said.

"I missed you too," Dee smiled.

"Now, let's get you in here and get a good solid meal into you. You look so thin and tired! It must be all those battles," Mrs Hino said, putting her arm around Dee's shoulders and leading her and her brothers inside.

* * *

"Is it finished yet? I'm bored! I wanna have some fun," Christina whined. Zoisite sighed exasperatedly as she watched the small black crystal pulsating with dark energy.

"Almost, calm down."

"Hey, don't tell me what to do! I've been waiting around in this pit for an hour while your stupid crystal charges up," Christina said.

"Why don't you go on ahead, then?"

"I would, but I made a deal for this, and I intend to keep up my end of the bargain," Christina said, holding up her hand. On her middle finger she now wore a thin band of shiny black stone, which Kunzite had told her would allow her to teleport anywhere she wanted.

"And what exactly _was_ your end of the bargain?" Zoisite asked.

"To help you get the next Rainbow Crystal," Christina said.

"So? You can do that when I get there. Go on ahead," Zoisite said.

"Nah, I think I'll stick around a bit longer," Christina smiled. Zoisite sighed and turned back to the crystal. _Someone please get her out of here, she's driving me insane!_ Just then, Zoisite's black crystal gave off a burst of dark energy, and then Zoisite pulled it out of the large crystal and tucked it into her pocket.

"Now we're ready," she said.

"Finally! I get to have some fun!" Christina said, smiling. Zoisite ignored her and vanished in a flurry of black rose petals. Christina closed her eyes and focused on her ring, telling it to take her to the same place that Zoisite had gone to. There was a flash of purple light, and Christina vanished.

* * *

"What's the matter, Dee? Don't you want your schnitzel?" Mrs Hino asked, noticing her daughter had become distracted from her food.

"It's not that, Mum, but something about this place looks familiar..." Dee trailed off as she realised that this was the same place from her vision earlier.

"Wow, is it just me, or is it suddenly a lot colder in here?" Jake asked, rubbing his hands together.

"Yeah, you're right. Can I go over there where the fireplace is?" Dee asked. Her Mum nodded, and Dee walked over to where two small logs were burning in the fireplace. With every step, the room got colder. She heard a crash and glanced over her shoulder to find that most of the people in the building had fallen asleep or were nodding off. Dee sank onto the couch close to one of the fires and curled up, the odd drowsiness sweeping over her. She fought hard to stay awake, but the cold seemed to drain all of her energy away, and she drifted off into a fitful sleep...

* * *

What seemed like minutes later, Dee felt someone poking her, and she swatted the hand away.

"Wakey wakey, sleepyhead," a familiar voice whispered. Dee rolled over to go back to sleep, but her eyes popped open when the voice registered. She looked up to see Christina lying on the couch beside her, poking her. She wasn't sure what startled her more: the fact that Christina was there or that everything was covered with snow and icicles. Dee sat up, startled.

"Oh, good, you're awake. Zoisite set an ice youma on this place so that everyone in here would fall asleep and leave her little difficulty in her search," Christina said, sitting up.

"Christina..."

"You might wanna call the others and get out there, Dee. She's after Alex," Christina said, folding her arms and nodding towards the main eating area, where Dee could hear tables being overturned.

"Oh, yeah, good idea! But wait... why are you..."

"Helping? Don't get any ideas, I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for myself. See, I want a challenge, and quite frankly, I can't get that from Zoisite. I mean, I could beat her blindfolded and with my hands tied behind my back. So it stands to reason that the only other source of a challenge would be from you guys. And I can't get any challenge from you if you're asleep, now can I," Christina said, taking Dee's bag and taking her phone out, before opening it and thrusting it into Dee's hand. "Go on, call them. And don't worry, even if we do play, I have no intention of taking one of you down without the other three here to take down as well, so you're safe until they get here." With that, Christina gave Dee a thumbs-up and went out to the main eating area.

"What were you doing over there?" Zoisite asked.

"Relax, Miss Touchy, I was just seeing who else we'd caught in here besides the kid," Christina said. Dee stepped over a sleeping person and hid around a corner, before pressing a button and calling the others.

"Guys, Zoisite's here, and so's Christina," Dee whispered into her phone.

"We'll be right there," Steph said from the other end of the line. Dee flipped her phone shut and slipped it back into her bag, then pulled out her transformation pen.

"Hey! Leave these innocent people alone, you creep!" Dee yelled, stepping out into the main area and pointing at Zoisite.

"How did you escape the spell?" Zoisite asked, furious.

"Duh, she's a Sailor Scout. The Scout in her obviously fought the spell off," Christina said, as though that were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I know that!" Dee glared at Zoisite and held up her Transformation Pen.

"Mars Power!" seconds later, Sailor Mars stood in the middle of a puddle of melted snow, glaring at Zoisite.

"I'm the Sailor Scout of Fire and Passion. I'm Sailor Mars! And in the name of Mars, I shall punish you!"

"I wondered when you'd come and play with me. Venus Dark Power!" black and purple lights flashed, and then Dark Venus stood facing Mars, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she conjured a black and purple sword similar to the one she used the night before. Mars conjured a sword of her own, and then the two engaged in a vicious swordfight. The two swords crashed together again and again, sparks flying with every hit. Zoisite even halted her search to watch the ferocious fighting. Finally Mars thought she sensed a way past Dark Venus' defences and swung her sword, only to find it spinning up into the air thanks to a twirl of Dark Venus' sword. Mars sensed her sword's movements and ran after it, jumping through to the next room and catching the sword in mid-air, then landing with a thud on the small table. Dark Venus followed and smiled.

"Not thinking of running away, I hope?" she asked. Mars gritted her teeth and swung her sword upwards again, her thoughts drifting to how sad she felt about Christina's situation. A Split second later, Mars' sword was flying up into the air again, and this time it was Dark Venus who caught it.

"You lost focus," she said coolly, before snapping the Fire Sword like a twig and dropping it on the floor. Mars looked up from the remnants of her sword into Dark Venus' eyes, which were sparkling with glee. _You've helped us so many times, Christina,_ Mars thought desperately. _How can I help you just this once? _Dark Venus stepped back cautiously as Mars began to glow with a bright red light. The two small fires behind her reacted to the light and more than quadrupled in size, the temperature immediately rising and melting all the ice and snow around the room.

"Well now, this is taking it up a notch. Awakening your Scout Powers now? That's make the challenge all the more fun!" Dark Venus grinned, conjuring another sword so that she now had two. Mars conjured two swords of her own, and then the two of them went at it again, the air getting thick with sparks and smoke from the four swords.

"Chrissy, stop it, please!" Sailor Moon yelled, as she and the others arrived at that moment. Dark Venus stepped back, watching the others.

"Finally, you're all here. Now we can have some real fun!" she said. It was then that Mars swung, her swords slicing through both of the black and purple swords as though they were made of butter. Dark Venus yelped in surprise and jumped back, dropping the hilts of her two swords. She stared down at the remains of her swords, then scowled at Mars.

"That's not playing fair, Dee," Dark Venus pouted, before conjuring another sword. Sailor Moon took off her tiara and turned it into a sword again, while Mercury and Jupiter conjured swords of their own. They were just about to fight when a loud scream rent the air, and they all turned to find Zoisite standing over Alex, clutching a glowing Red Crystal. Dark Venus grinned.

"You got it," she said, looking at the Crystal curiously.

"Yes, I did. Thank you for your help, Princess," Zoisite said. The Scouts looked shocked and hurt at Zoisite's words.

"You... helped her?" Sailor Moon whispered.

"Why would you do that?" Mercury yelled.

"Simple. I made a deal, and kept up my end of the bargain," Dark Venus said coolly.

"Chrissy... What's happened to you? Please, Chrissy, you've got to stop this! We need you, not because you're the Princess, but because you're our friend!" Sailor Moon cried. Dark Venus gritted her teeth in pain as Sailor Moon's words resonated deep within her heart.

"Come on, Christina!"

"Come back to us!"

"We all miss you!"

"Be quiet!" Dark Venus yelled, the pain increasing with every word her friends said. She sank to her knees, gasping in pain and clutching her head. Sailor Moon stepped forward, worried, then jumped back, narrowly avoiding Dark Venus' sword, which she had swung wildly to keep Sailor Moon away. Dark Venus lost her grip on the sword, and it flew out of her hand and then sank into the wall, sticking there. Dark Venus closed her eyes and moaned as the pain increased again, then vanished, leaving Zoisite alone in the restaurant with the Scouts.

"I'm so sorry, girls, but it seems we've had a minor setback. It won't happen again, though, so look forward to next time! Ciao! Oh, and enjoy "playing" with Rojo!" Zoisite said, before vanishing with a laugh and a whirl of black petals.

"Ooh, I hate that crud Zoisite!" Mars said angrily.

"What about Christina, though? Would she really help Zoisite?" Phoenix asked.

"She always was one to hold up her end of a bargain as best she could," Artie said, walking over to where Dark Venus' sword was embedded in the wall. After a few tugs, he pulled it down to find another message: "You girls put up a good fight today. Especially you, Dee. I knew I'd picked correctly when I chose to challenge you. I'm looking forward to our next fight!" Artie frowned and placed the sword on a nearby table, then span around as a ray of dark energy appeared in the centre of the room. When it faded, the group were staring at a huge ruby-red dragon with the usual black eyes.

"We've got to heal him, guys! That's my brother!" Mars called, receiving a few surprised looks from the others.

"That's Jake?"

"No, that's Alex, actually. Jake's probably asleep over there with my Mum," Mars said, nodding towards a pile of people who were all fast asleep, then yelped and jumped away from the jet of bright red flames that Rojo had breathed at her.

"Hurry up and heal him, Sailor Moon!" Mars said, blocking another jet of flame with her swords.

"Moon Healing Activation!" Sailor Moon called, holding out her Crescent Moon Wand. Rojo howled in pain as the silver glitter changed his eyes from black to blue. The Scouts sighed in relief as the air was filled with red sparkles, which changed Rojo back into Alex.

"Thank goodness that's over," Lucy said, sighing.

"It's not over yet," Artie said gravely, pointing at Dark Venus' sword. The others read the message and looked at one another, all silently hoping that that next battle would wait until tomorrow.

"Come on, guys, let's go home," Mercury said.

"I'll join you later. I'll just check that everyone's OK here," Mars said, taking her jumper off her chair and placing it behind Alex's head. Alex stirred at the slight movement, then opened his eyes, surprised to find the Sailor Scouts there.

"What happened, Dee? Was it the Negaverse again?" he asked.

"Yes and no. I'll explain later, once we've gotten everyone else to wake up. But trust me, you're not going to believe what I'm going to say," Mars said.

"What? What happened?" Alex asked, sitting up.

"For now, let's just say that I think you guys'd be OK coming back down here," Mars smiled.

"See you later, Dee, we're gonna head back to the house now," Sailor Moon said.

"Excuse me, Sailor Scouts?" a voice said. The Scouts turned to find a tall man in a neatly-pressed suit standing there.

"My name is Wilson Baxter. I help create stage and television shows, and I was wondering if it would be possible for me to create a stage show about you," the man said.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Artie said.

"Here's my card. Please, just think about it for now and give me a call if you like the idea," Mr Baxter said.

"OK, we'll think about it, but I can't guarantee that we'll get back to you anytime soom, seeing as we've got a lot happening at the moment," Sailor Moon said, taking the card and examining it, before handing it to Artie, who slipped it into the pocket of his shorts. Mr Baxter smiled and nodded, then left.

"That was weird..." Mercury said, glancing around at all the sleeping people.

"Yeah. I'm tired, let's go home," Jupiter said.

"Same. We'll meet you back at the house, Dee," Sailor Moon said. Mars nodded and smiled, and the others left.

* * *

Christina fell onto the floor of her cavernous room in the Negaverse, gasping and gritting her teeth. She managed to claw her way across the room to the pod, which closed as soon as she was in it and began filling with purple smoke again. Christina sighed with relief as the pain subsided, then fell asleep, wondering why the Sailor Scouts' words caused her so much agony.

* * *

"Again? Those girls are annoyingly persistent. Not that it matters. Ah, Princess, no matter how you struggle, you'll never get out of my little cage. And even if you do, you won't be conscious for very long afterwards," Kunzite murmured. "And if, by some slim chance, you do manage to wake up again, the other Scouts won't trust you. The change to your appearance is irreversible." Kunzite grinned and jabbed the button once more for good measure, then turned and left.


	12. The Indigo Crystal

Steph: I still can't believe Chrissy turned on us...

Lucy: We'll get her and the Crystals back, don't worry.

Bonnie: Artemis? How are you holding up?

Artemis: Yeah, I'm OK, I guess. Do you wanna do the disclaimer, Bonnie?

Bonnie: Sure. Sparrowflyaway doesn't own Sailor Moon, PGSM or Pirates of the Caribbean.

Steph: You sure love those movies, don't you, Bonnie.

Bonnie: Aye!

Steph: *groan*

* * *

"What do you reckon happened to Christina, Artemis? I mean, that's twice that she's been in pain during a fight," Bonnie said, sitting down on the couch next to Steph.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure, but... it may be that her true self is fighting back against the darkness inside her," Artemis said.

"Do you really think so?" Luna asked, her eyes wide and hopeful.

"I have a feeling that she is," Artemis smiled.

"And what should we do about that guy? What's his name? Walter or something?" Steph asked.

"Wilson. He said his name was Wilson Baxter," Phoenix said.

"Yeah, him. So what are we going to do about his idea?" Steph asked.

"I'm not sure... We wouldn't really have all that much material for him to use in a show, seeing as we've only been at this for just over a week," Bonnie said, looking up to find Dee standing in the doorway. "Hi, we didn't hear you come in. How's Alex?"

"He's fine. Kinda surprised, but fine. I wish we could ask Christina what she thinks about that play," Dee said.

"Maybe we should hold off our decisions until we get her back," Artemis said.

"You think we will?" Steph asked. Artemis chuckled.

"She's said many times before that she can't be anyone except herself. With all five of you fighting the darkness inside her, she'll be back to normal sooner or later. I know it," he smiled.

"Until then, you'd all better get some sleep. The darkness in her is too strong to be fighting when you're tired," Luna said. The others nodded and went upstairs to bed, falling asleep with a glimmer of a very warm, welcome feeling: hope.

* * *

Dark Venus looked around the blank white plain she was standing in, wondering how she had come to be here.

"What is this place?" she wondered aloud.

"This is a dream, girl. I would say welcome, but you're about as welcome here as you are in my body," a familiar voice said. Dark Venus whirled around to stare at... herself. Or rather, her old self. Sailor Venus stared determinedly into her evil version's eyes, the gold crescent moon glinting on her forehead.

"What is this?"

"I already told you, idiot, this is a dream."

"I heard you the first time, weakling. What's the meaning of this?"

"I just figured that you should know that they're using us."

"Maybe I'm the one using them."

"As if! Wake up and smell the blood, Christina, Kunzite is using our negativity to manipulate us!"

"You keep using the word 'us'. Why?"

"You still don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

"We're the same person."

"As if! We're completely different!"

"You see? We both use the same phrase. We're one and the same."

"You're wrong."

"Am I? Search your heart, Christina, you know it's true."

"Shut up, you weakling! I'm in charge here, you have no say in anything at all."

"Really? Then how do you explain this?" Sailor Venus asked, clicking her fingers. The whiteness around them changed, turning into the dimly-lit front yard of the Aino's house.

"What the... What did you just do?"

"We have the same memories too, idiot. Now have a look at what I'm showing you," Sailor Venus said, pointing at two of the people frozen in place in the yard. Dark Venus' eyes widened in surprise as she realised that she was staring at herself and Sailor Moon, swords pressed firmly against each other.

"But... That's me!"

"You sound so surprised," Sailor Venus giggled.

"Just get on with it," Dark Venus snapped. Sailor Venus clicked her fingers, and the scene sprung to life.

"Chrissy, please, stop it," Sailor Moon pleaded. Dark Venus watched as the her of her memories staggered back in pain.

"That was you that caused that pain?" Dark Venus hissed, glaring at Sailor Venus

"You got it. I'm glad I managed to cause pain to you, 'cause I can only imagine how hurt my friends are that you're in control," Sailor Venus said.

"If you're right, and we _are_ the same, then _you're_ the one causing your friends that pain," Dark Venus said snidely. Sailor Venus glared at her dark form, then winced, feeling her connection fading.

"I don't have much longer, so I'll just leave you with this," she said, clicking her fingers and changing the scene to the battle at The Flying Horse. Smiling, Sailor Venus waved to her dark form, then vanished, the scene springing to life the instant she left.

"Chrissy... What's happened to you? Please, Chrissy, you've got to stop this! We need you, not because you're the Princess, but because you're our friend!"

"Come on, Christina!"

"Come back to us!"

"We all miss you!"

* * *

Christina groaned in her sleep, her friends' words echoing through her head.

"Shut up... Get outta my head," she murmured, before jolting awake. She stared up at the pod, seething at her good version. _Even though you tried to get out twice, you're still just as weak as before, _she thought. A small voice in her head chuckled.

_You keep forgetting, don't you,_ the voice whispered. _We're the same person. The only reason you're beating me is because of that stupid smoke. In fact, the only reason you even exist is because of that stupid smoke._

_Shut up, I've got things to do._

_Fine, go ahead. For once this could be beneficial for me too. _Christina ignored her good version's comment, instead focusing on her ring and vanishing.

* * *

"Morning, Artemis! What's the plan for today?" Steph asked, walking into the loungeroom with the other three behind her.

"How about you go for a walk and see if you can find any more Crystal Carriers," Artie said.

"Again? We've done that a lot, but so far we've only found one Crystal Carrier that way," Steph said

"Well if you found one, you may find another," Lucy said.

"You have a point, Luna. Go on, girls, Luna and I will head down to the Base and wait for any news," Artie said. The girls nodded and started gathering up their things.

"By the time all the Crystal Carriers have been found, we'll know Warrnambool better than we know ourselves," Bonnie smiled.

"At least that'll mean you get to battles faster," Artie said.

* * *

Christina appeared near the entrance to the cavern containing the black crystal, her senses tinging with what was now the energy of three Rainbow Crystals. She smiled when she realised that Zoisite was not there, and walked over to the box. _Surely there's some kind of protection or shield on this thing,_ Christina thought. _Zoisite wouldn't be stupid enough to leave the Rainbow Crystals just lying around, would she?_ Christina closed her eyes and opened her senses, and a faint tingle of energy from the box itself confirmed her suspiscions: there was indeed a protective spell on it. A second later, Christina's eyes snapped open as she realised that there were still only two Rainbow Crystals in the box: the third one was elsewhere in the cavern. She turned around and gasped: the Red Crystal was lying on a stone table on the other side of the cavern, next to the small black crystal. _Apparently I gave Zoisite too much credit: she _would_ be stupid enough to leave them lying around._ Christina stared at the Red Crystal for a moment, then, satisfied that there was no protection around it, picked it up and slipped it into her pocket. _Now where can I hide this?_ she wondered. _I can't hide it anywhere in the Negaverse, because Beryl or one of those other idiots would probably sense it. Looks like I'll have to hide it on Earth. But where, I wonder..._ After a moment, a smile spread across Christina's face, and she focused on her ring and disappeared.

* * *

"Wow, there's a lot of people out here today," Dee said, looking around at the crowd of people and trying to sense another Crystal Carrier's energy.

"Anything?" Bonnie whispered to Steph, who glanced in her bag.

"Nothing yet," Steph whispered back.

"Hi, guys! What're you up to?" a familiar voice called. The Scouts turned to find Ethan and Jayden walking towards them.

"Oh, hi! We're just seeing if we can find any more of you," Phoenix said. The two boys nodded understandingly.

"Any luck?" Jayden asked.

"Not yet. But you never know, we may find one," Steph said.

"Mind if we come too? If you do find one, then Zoisite'll probably show up too and you may need us," Ethan said.

"Sure, you can come. You might be able to sense one of the others better than we can," Bonnie said. The boys nodded, and the group continued up the street.

* * *

Christina glanced around the street she had appeared on, hoping that no-one had seen her arrive. After a few moments, she took a small orange box from her pocket, which she ran one hand over while muttering a spell under her breath. After a few moments, the box flashed once with dark energy, and Christina smiled as she opened it. Taking the Red Crystal from her pocket, she placed it gently on the foam inside the box and closed the lid again, clipping it shut. Satisfied, she slipped the box back into her pocket and crossed the street, knocking on the door of a house there. There was a scurry of footsteps, and then the door opened to reveal a tall blonde girl who looked fairly similar to Christina.

"Hey, Cuz, what's up? I haven't seen you in a while. I was just getting ready to go to a bowling tournament," the girl said, pulling on a jumper that had the word "Skye" embroidered on it.

"Hi Cuz, I've only got a moment. I was wondering if you could do me a big favour," Christina said.

"Sure, what do you need?" Skye asked.

"I was hoping you could look after this for me," Christina said, taking the box from her pocket and opening it to show her cousin.

"Wow, that's so pretty! You really want me to look after this for you?"

"Would that be OK with you?"

"Sure! I'll take care of it for you. Just let me know when you want it back, OK?"

"'Course I will. Thanks for your help, Cuz," Christina said, shutting and clipping down the lid, before handing the box over. Smiling, Christina turned and ran across the lawn.

"See you later!" Skye called.

"Yep! Have fun at your tournament!" Christina called back. I_ felt something from Skye... What was that?_ _Was that... No, it couldn't be. Could it? Is she really a Crystal Carrier? Or was I just __imagining it? _she wondered.

_Amusing, isn't it,_ the voice in her head whispered.

_What is?_

_Your choice of hiding place. Skye's one of the few ordinary people that I trust completely. _

_Shut up. That had nothing to do with my decision._

_Well, either way, you'd better get back to bed, otherwise Zoisite'll suspect you of stealing that Crystal, and then you'll get blasted. And I'd really rather that you didn't get hurt. Any pain that you feel, I feel as well._

_So you feel all the pain that you create when you try to take control?_

_Pretty much, yeah._

_That sounds rather stupid to me._

_If it'll get me my body back, then I'm willing to do it for as long as I need to_. Christina frowned at her good version's comment as she focused on her ring and teleported back to her room in the Negaverse.

* * *

"We've been out here for hours, guys, and we stilll haven't found anything. Maybe we should check back in with Luna and Artemis," Dee said. Steph checked her bag for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, finding the Crescent Moon Wand exactly the same as every other time she'd checked: unlit.

"Maybe we should call them and see if there's any news," Bonnie said. Just then, all four of the Scout's phones rang simultaneously, and they pulled them out of their bags or pockets and flipped them open.

"Girls, the program just went off, there's going to be an attack at Pins 'n' Play," Artemis said. All four girls gasped.

"What? The bowling alley beside the Base?" Phoenix gasped.

"Exactly. Luna and I will try to increase the Base's shields, but you need to get over here now," Artemis said urgently.

"Got it. We're on our way," the girls chorused, before putting their phones away.

"What's up?" Jayden asked.

"Luna's attack prediction program just went off. It said there's going to be an attack at Pins 'n' Play, which is right next to our Base," Steph said.

"We'd better get down there, then," Ethan said. The others nodded, and then the six of them went running down the street in the direction of the Base.

* * *

"Get up," a rough voice said, an equally rough pair of hands shaking Christina, who opened her eyes to find Kunzite frowning at her. She sat up, faking confusion.

"What's up? Does Zoisite know the identity of another Crystal Carrier?" Christina asked.

"Not yet, but this is much more important than finding another Crystal Carrier. At least their Crystal can't be lost, unlike the Red Crystal," Zoisite said, stepping out of the shadows.

"You lost it?" Christina exclaimed, forcing a touch of anger into her voice.

"I didn't lose it, someone stole it," Zoisite hissed.

"Well don't look at me, I've been asleep. For some reason those Scouts have a way of draining my energy with their words. And besides, how would I be able to take it? I already figured out that you keep the Crystals in a box, and I highly doubt you'd be stupid enough not to put a spell on it," Christina said.

"Well, I..." Zoisite trailed off as she realised that the runty Princess before her was right.

"Zoisite hadn't put the Red Crystal into the box yet, she was reporting back to Queen Beryl," Kunzite said, glaring at Zoisite for her lack of foresight.

"Well, as I said, I was asleep. And if you don't mind, I would like to get back to sleep. I still feel kinda tired," Christina said, before closing her pod and turning away from the two Generals. She closed her eyes and listened hard, picking up on the whispered conversation outside the pod.

"Do you think she's telling the truth?"

"I'm not sure... this Princess' energy is rather difficult to read."

"But what do we tell Queen Beryl, Kunzite? She won't be pleased that we lost one here."

"No, she won't. For now, we should just keep quiet. The Princess may eventually give us a clue that will tell us whether she took it or not, and then she shall receive her just reward." Christina smiled at Kunzite's words. _They still believe that stupid story,_ she thought, sensing the two Generals leave. _Idiots. I'm not about to tell them the truth, 'cause they'd kill me if they knew._

_We sure have a lot of secrets, don't we,_ the voice in her head mused.

_Shut up, I'm not in the mood for you._

_Fine, then. Just remember not to sleep for too long, or Zoisite'll leave without you, and you'll miss out on the opportunity to get another Crystal. Oh, and by the way, I hope you remember what the others learned in Training the other day._

_What are you talking about?_

_Don't you remember what we told them?_

_Just get to the point._

"_Trust your senses."_

_...You think I'm right about Skye._

_If that's what our senses are telling you, then she probably is._

_Then why am I going to sleep? I should be getting down to Pins 'n' Play._

_Easy, girl. Zoisite and Kunzite think you're asleep. If they check on you and you're not here, they'll suspect you even more._

_So what do you suggest, Miss Smarty?_

_How about using our senses and figuring out when Zoisite leaves. She'll either be going to Pins 'n' Play or to my house, so it shouldn't be that hard to find her._

_I hate to say it, but you have a point. Fine, I'll stay for a while, _Christina thought, before focusing her senses on Zoisite's energy pattern.

* * *

"Wow, there's a lot of people here too, how are we ever going to find a Crystal Carrier in here?" Jayden asked.

"We'll just have to see who the Wand reacts to," Steph said, looking around.

"Hey, there are some really good bowlers here, do you think one of them could be the Crystal Carrier?" Ethan asked.

"Maybe... Hey, there's Chrissy's cousin Skye. Wow, she's doing really well," Steph said, watching as Skye got her fourth strike in a row. Skye turned to walk back to her seat, spotting Steph and the others and walking over.

"Hi, you're Steph, right? I remember you from Christina's Christmas party last year," Skye said.

"Yeah, that's me. How are you?"

"Fine, thanks. Yourself?"

"A bit tired, but OK."

"That's good. Who are these guys?"

"Oh, this is Bonnie, Dee, Phoenix, Ethan and Jayden."

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Skye. Is Christina here with you?"

"No, she's... busy with other things," Phoenix said.

"Really? Well, she did seem a bit busy earlier, so I shouldn't be surprised," Skye said.

"You saw her earlier? When?" Bonnie asked.

"Just before I came here today. She came over to my house and asked me to look after some red gem for her." The four scouts gasped.

"She gave you the Red Crystal? Wow, she must really trust you, even now," Steph said.

"What do you mean? Has something happened?" Skye asked, looking worried.

"It's kinda complicated," Dee said.

"Oh, it's my turn again. See you later," Skye said, before turning and walking back down to take her turn.

"Something seems familiar about her..." Ethan said, watching Skye take her turn and get another strike.

"Hey, Steph? What's going on with your bag?" Jayden asked. Steph glanced inside it and gasped at the flashing gems on the Crescent Moon Wand.

"There's a Crystal Carrier here," she whispered.

"Do you think it's Skye?" Ethan asked.

"It must be. The flashing in your bag started when she came over to talk to us," Jayden said. Steph looked up sharply, her senses suddenly tingling with familiar negative energy.

"She's here, guys, I can sense her," Dee said, glancing around.

"Me too," Steph said. The group whirled around as they heard a scream, finding a large white youma standing in the middle of the room and blocking the only two exits. The youma cupped its hands around its mouth and blew, spreading ice and snow everywhere.

"That must be the same youma from yesterday!" Dee gasped, staring at it and fighting down her sudden drowsiness.

"We'd better transform, then," Steph said, shaking her head to clear it, before ducking around a corner with the other three Scouts behind her. "Ready, girls?"

"Ready!" the other three chorused.

"Moon Prism Power!"

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!" Pink, blue, red and green lights reflected off of the spreading ice crystals, and then the Scouts jumped out of their hiding place and posed.

"These people are here to have fun! I won't forgive you for disrupting them! I'm Sailor Moon!"

"I'm Sailor Mercury!"

"I'm Sailor Mars!"

"And I'm Sailor Jupiter!"

"And in the name of our guardian planets, we shall punish you!" the scouts chorused.

"What a surprise, not. I knew you would show up here, little Scouts, and that's why I brought my friend here with me," Zoisite said, stepping out from behind the youma and glaring at them.

"We won't let you hurt anyone else, Zoisite!" Sailor Moon yelled. Zoisite chuckled.

"You really think you can stop me?" Zoisite scoffed.

"We can and we will!" Mars yelled.

"Get them!" Zoisite yelled, pointing at the Scouts. Her youma roared, its arms glowing white.

"What's going on?" Mars gasped, watching as the youma's arms turned into axe blades.

"We're in trouble, that's what!" Sailor Moon gasped, before diving out of the way of one of the youma's blade-arms. Sailor Moon clambered to her feet, looking angry. "Let's take this thing down! Moon Tiara..."

"Mercury Bubbles..."

"Mars Fire..."

"Supreme..."

"Magic!" "Blast!" "Ignite!" "Thunder!" the four attacks merged and flew through the air, slicing through Zoisite's Dark Sword and striking the youma in the stomach. The youma roared in pain and staggered back, then yanked the tiara from its icy body and threw it on the ground.

"Well, that didn't work. I'd better figure out this thing's weakness," Mercury said, pulling out her computer and pressing a few buttons.

"Hurry up, Mercury, we haven't got all day here!" Jupiter yelled, conjuring a Lightning Sword just in time to block one of the youma's arms.

"Hang on a sec... Just a little more..." Mercury murmured.

"Mercury!" Mars yelled, blocking the youma's other arm with a Fire Sword.

"Got it! We need to aim between its eyes, but it'll take all four of us to get through!" Mercury said, looking up.

"Right! Moon Tiara...

"Shine Aqua..."

"Akuryo..."

"Flower..."

"Magic!" "Illusion!" "Taisan!" "Hurricane!" the four attacks merged and struck the youma right between the eyes, going straight through its head. The youma howled as cracks began spreading from its wound all along its body, until it finally shattered, the shards turning into dust.

"Yay! Great job, guys! We got it! Now, where's Zoisite?" Sailor Moon asked, looking around. The Scouts whirled around when they heard a scream, and found Zoisite standing over an unconscious Skye with a dark-blue gem in her hand: the Indigo Crystal.

"Moon Tiara Magic!" Sailor Moon shouted, her Tiara striking Zoisite's hand and knocking the Indigo Crystal from her grip. Zoisite roared in anger as Mercury dove past her and grabbed the Indigo Crystal up. Mercury scrambled to her feet and turned to find Zoisite pointing a Dark Sword at her. Mercury quickly conjured an Ice Sword and knocked Zoisite's sword away, before the two of them began fighting fiercely, their swords crashing together. Suddenly, Mercury's sword went flying from her grasp, and Zoisite pointed her Dark Sword at Mercury's throat.

"Give me that Crystal, you bratty Scout!" Zoisite hissed.

"Get away from her, Zoisite!" Sailor Moon yelled, changing her tiara into a sword and charging forward. Zoisite turned and began fighting her new opponent, which gave Mercury time to grab her sword. Mercury, Mars and Jupiter all charged forward and began fighting Zoisite with Sailor Moon, and the four scouts quickly found their enemy weakening. They all swung their swords at the same time, sending Zoisite's flying from her hand and shattering against the wall. The four Scouts all pointed their swords at Zoisite's throat and grinned.

"Gotcha," Sailor Moon whispered. Suddenly, a ray of dark energy enveloped Skye, turning her into a large, dark-blue dragon.

"Ah, just in time. Anil, stop them!" Zoisite yelled, conjuring another Dark Sword. Anil roared and breathed a jet of indigo fire at Zoisite, who jumped out of the way. "Not again! Why won't you listen to me?"

"I guess she's smart enough to realise that she'll be nothing more than a slave to you," Sailor Moon said, watching Anil breath more indigo fire at Zoisite. Anil turned and roared when she spotted the Scouts, before breathing more fire at them. Mars quickly conjured another Fire Sword and used both to block the flames. Zoisite grinned and started duelling Sailor Moon again.

"Hurry up and heal her, Steph! I can't hold these flames back forever!" Mars yelled, struggling to keep her swords in position against the seemingly-endless jet of flame.

"I'm a little busy at the moment!" Sailor Moon yelled, before kicking Zoisite backwards and running over to Mars. Zoisite went to follow, but found Mercury and Jupiter blocking her path.

"You're not going anywhere," Jupiter said.

"Fine then, I'll take you two down first!" Zoisite yelled, before swinging her sword and making contact with both of the Scouts' swords.

"We have to help them, Jayden! Our power's inside us, we just have to look for it!" Ethan said, before closing his eyes and transforming. Azul nodded to Jayden, then turned and breathed a huge blue fireball at Zoisite. Jayden stared at Azul in amazement, then closed his eyes and began searching for his power. Meanwhile, Sailor Moon was looking for a way to reach Anil that wasn't blocked by indigo flames.

"I can't reach her!" Sailor Moon said frantically.

"Hang on a second..." Mars said, causing flames to burst from her swords and force Anil backwards, extinguishing the indigo fire.

"Thanks, Dee! Moon Healing Activation!" Anil howled as the silver glitter floated over her, changing her eyes from black to blue.

"Nice job, Steph, now let's go help the others!" Mars said, watching Anil become surrounded by indigo sparkles. Sailor Moon nodded, and then the two of them ran back over to where Zoisite, Mercury, Jupiter and Azul were fighting fiercely. Just as Sailor Moon was about to join the battle, Jayden was surrounded by a beam of green energy, which faded to reveal Verde.

"Oh, that's just great," Zoisite murmured. Verde roared at Zoisite and then breathed a jet of emerald-green flames, which merged with Azul's blue fire and enveloped Zoisite. The Scouts watched in amazement as Zoisite was thrown backwards, her Dark Sword melting from the heat. The Negaverse General staggered to her feet, panting heavily and glaring at the Scouts. The Scouts all pointed their swords at Zoisite and the two Crystal Carriers growled. Suddenly, Mercury felt the Indigo Crystal snatched from her hand, and turned to find Tuxedo Mask staring at her.

"Give that back," Mercury said, pointing her sword at Tuxedo Mask. Mars spun at Mercury's words, and pointed her sword at Tuxedo Mask too.

"I don't think I will, actually," Tuxedo Mask replied, stepping back and slipping the Indigo Crystal into his pocket. Jupiter turned around and pointed her Lightning Sword at Tuxedo Mask, while the two Crystal Carriers turned and growled. Sailor Moon glanced over her shoulder at Tuxedo Mask, hoping that her friends would not harm him. Zoisite spotted the moment and conjured another Dark Sword, which she used to knock Sailor Moon's sword from her hand. Zoisite charged forward and swung her sword, tracing a thin line across the backs of the other three Scouts, who all winced in pain and dropped their swords. She then went to swing her sword at Tuxedo Mask, but suddenly stopped, gasping for breath. Mercury, Mars and Jupiter stared in surprise at Zoisite, their wounds expelling sparks in their scout colours.

"Master..." Zoisite murmured, her voice filled with confusion. Tuxedo Mask stared at her for a moment, before turning and running away.

"He... He got the Crystal," Mercury said, stunned. Just then, there was a flash of purple beside Zoisite, and then Christina appeared, looking angry.

"Hey, what's the big idea, Zoisite? We're supposed to work together! How come you left without me?" she shouted.

"You're much later than I would have thought. Oh well, I guess I'll be going now. Enjoy!" Zoisite said, before vanishing.

"Get back here, Zoisite, I'm not finished with you yet!" Christina roared.

"Chrissy..." Sailor Moon whispered. Christina turned, her eyes narrowing when she saw the Scouts.

"Oh, it's you. I'm glad you showed up, I was in the mood for some fun. It's playtime! Venus Dark Power!" the little remaining ice around them sparkled black and purple, and then Dark Venus stood glaring at the other Scouts.

"Christina, stop, please! Can't we just talk?" Jupiter pleaded.

"Why, are you afraid to fight me?"

"We don't want to fight you, Christina, you're our friend!" Mars cried.

"Friendship... You think I want your crummy friendship? Your friendship doesn't make me stronger!"

"You're wrong, Christina," a familiar voice said. Dark Venus turned to find Lucy and Artie standing in the doorway.

"Friendship does make us stronger. It's different from having powers or muscles. It's the knowledge that we have our friends beside us that makes us able to go into battle without worrying what happens. That's what makes us truly strong, Christina," Artie said, walking over to her and taking both her hands into his.

"Huh?" Dark Venus' eyes widened as she thought about what her guardian was saying.

"Artemis is right, Chrissy, we fight together, side by side, as one, no matter who our enemy is. That's what friendship means to us," Sailor Moon said.

"I..."

"And even though we may go into battle knowing the odds are against us a million to one, we still won't back down, because we know that the power of our friendship will see us through," Mercury said.

"Come on, Christina, you know that somewhere deep inside you is the true Christina. The one that's our friend," Mars said.

"We believe in you, Christina, no matter what happens. We know that in the end, you'll be able to defeat the darkness and come back to us," Jupiter said.

"We know the true you, Christina, and we won't stop fighting until we get you back," Lucy said.

"Right! We know that the true you isn't Dark Venus. The true Christina is our friend," Artie said, staring up into Christina's cold eyes, which were clouded with confusion. _Could they really be right? _Dark Venus wondered._ Is this truly not my destiny?_

_You finally figured it out, huh, genius,_ the voice in her whispered. _Took you long enough._

"Shut up, you weakling, you have no say in anything," Dark Venus hissed, pulling her hands out of Artie's grip and grabbing her head. Artie stepped back, wide-eyed.

_I'm not going to give up until I get back control._

"Shut up. Shut up, you worthless creature! I am in control, and I won't allow you to defeat me!" Dark Venus yelled.

"Her true self is fighting back! I knew it!" Artie exclaimed, his eyes filling with hope.

"Come on, Chrissy! You can do it! We believe in you!" Sailor Moon exclaimed.

"Girls, send your power to her! That may give her the edge she needs against the darkness!" Artie said, turning to the Scouts. Mercury, Mars and Jupiter nodded and closed their eyes as they began to glow their Scout colours. Sailor Moon held up the Crescent Moon Wand, which also began to glow. Dark Venus staggered back as the pink, blue, red and green light washed over her, her pain increasing.

_See? You can't win, not with all of my friends fighting you too, _the voice said, getting stronger and louder every second.

"Shut up! You Scouts, you haven't seen the last of me, I can assure you of that!" Dark Venus yelled, before vanishing. The Scouts stared at the spot where Dark Venus had disappeared, the glowing subsiding. Azul and Verde sighed, before becoming surrounded by sparkles.

"Well, I hope we got through to her, and that she'll come back to us," Mercury said. The blue and green sparkles subsided, and Ethan and Jayden nodded in agreement.

"What just happened? What's wrong with Christina?" a voice asked. The Scouts turned to find Skye sitting up and staring at them, shock written all over her face.

"Hey, Skye, are you alright?" Sailor Moon

"Yeah, I think so. What's happened to Christina?" Skye asked.

"Long story short, the Negaverse turned her evil and now her true self is fighting back," Artie said, reaching out and helping Skye to her feet.

"Well, I hope you guys get her back really soon. You'll let me know when that happens, won't you?" Skye asked.

"Of course we will! You'll be one of the first to know," Luna said.

"With all of you working together, I'm sure she'll be back to normal in no time," Skye smiled.

"You can help us too, you know. You transformed for a reason, Skye," Sailor Moon said.

"Wow, I transformed?"

"Yep, you turned into a dragon, just like Ethan and Jayden. Well, a dragon youma, to be specific, but you're pretty much just a normal dragon now," Mercury smiled.

"If you can call dragons 'normal'," Mars said.

"Cool! I love dragons, I've got lots of statues of them at home," Skye said.

"Yeah, I remember Chrissy talking about your collection once. Apparently it's pretty big," Sailor Moon said.

"Yeah, and now I can be part of it too!" Skye smiled. The scouts, along with Ethan, Jayden, Skye and Luna burst out laughing. Artie smiled, then turned away, his eyes filled with both worry and hope. _Oh, please, Christina,_ he thought sadly. _Please come back to us._


	13. Venus and the Orange Crystal

Steph: I hope we finally got through to Chrissy...

Artemis: I think we did, Steph. With a bit of luck, things will go our way. In the mean time, would you like to do the disclaimer?

Steph: OK. Sparrowflyaway does not own Sailor Moon, PGSM or Sabrina The Teenage Witch.

Bonnie: And you criticize me for liking Pirates of The Caribbean.

* * *

Christina landed on the hard floor of her room in the Negaverse, gritting her teeth against the fiery pain coursing through her. She looked around for the pod and scrambled to her feet. Just as she reached it, her knees buckled and the voice echoed through her head, louder than ever before.

_Get outta my body, you freak!_

"I won't let you defeat me," Christina gasped.

_I'm not giving you a choice._

Christina grabbed for the edge of the pod to haul herself up, but the pain increased even more, and she doubled over, gasping.

_How are you doing this?_ Christina thought frantically.

_Easy. My friends helped me. Now get out of my body!_ Suddenly, the pain stopped, and Christina lay panting on the floor. She opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling, horrified.

"What have I done?" she whispered, tears filling her eyes. Through her tears, she noticed flashing by her side, and looked down to see her ring flashing madly. _What's going on?_ she wondered, watching as the flashing suddenly stopped. After a few moments, she realised why the ring had stopped flashing: it was absorbing her energy. _Darn it, Kunzite must've realised that the darkness couldn't hold on to me forever. I should've known that he'd have a back-up plan for when my good self fought back,_ Christina thought, grabbing the ring. She was just about to pull it off when she hesitated. _Wait, this thing's my only ticket outta here. I'll have to use it one more time._ Christina clambered to her feet, feeling her strength fading rapidly. _I don't know how I can face the others again after what I did, but I have to get home,_ she thought, focusing on the ring's teleportation powers. A split second later, she was standing at the end of her street. Gasping for breath and fighting to stay conscious, Christina staggered down the street to her house. _The others mustn't be home yet,_ she thought, noticing that there were no lights on inside the house despite the darkening sky. She pushed open the gate and climbed up the front steps, before her legs buckled and she collapsed to the ground. Using what felt like the last of her strength, Christina pulled the ring from her finger and threw it across the concrete, before her world faded to black and she fainted.

* * *

"Wow, I'm tired. I can't wait to get inside and have some dinner, I'm starving after that battle," Steph said. Bonnie, Dee, Phoenix, Artie and Lucy laughed as they walked up the street towards Christina's house. Suddenly Artie stopped and frowned, holding out his arm to halt the others.

"What is it, Artemis?" Lucy asked.

"I sense something," he said.

"Is it the Negaverse again?" Dee asked.

"Or Christina?" Bonnie added.

"I think you may be correct, Bonnie, but... could it be?" he said, before running the rest of the way to the front gate with the others behind him. Artemis skidded to a stop at the gates and stared.

"Artemis, wait up! What's..." Steph trailed off, her words transforming into a gasp. The others gasped too when they saw Christina lying on the front step.

"Is she OK? What's happened to her?" Phoenix asked.

"Chrissy! We're here!" Steph cried, running forward. Artie and Lucy leapt after her and pulled her back.

"Steph, it could be a trick! We need to check first. Bonnie?"

"Already on it, Artemis," Bonnie said, typing away on her Mercury computer. After a moment, she gasped. "It's her!"

"Well of course it's her, anyone could see that, Bonnie," Steph said.

"No, I mean, it's really her! She's back to normal!" Bonnie cried, smiling.

"Thank goodness! Finally, we got you back, Christina," Artie whispered, tears of joy forming in his eyes.

"That's just the good news, though," Bonnie said, her smile fading.

"So what's the bad news?" Dee asked.

"One, she's lost nearly all her energy, and two, the darkness is still inside her. It's a lot weaker, so I think she's beaten it for now, but it'll probably try to take control again eventually," Bonnie said.

"Great," Phoenix murmured darkly.

"Hang on, I'm picking up something else," Bonnie said, looking around. After a few moments, she spotted the ring lying beside the gate, and focused her computer's scanners on it.

"That thing's drained her energy, and it seems to be slowly sending it somewhere else, probably to the Negaverse. I think if we destroy it, Christina should get back the little energy that's still in it," Bonnie said, pointing at the ring.

"OK then, I'll just stamp on it, that should do the trick," Steph said, stepping forward.

"No! If you touch it with your shoe, it'll start draining your energy as well," Bonnie warned.

"So what do we do? Melt it?" Dee asked, taking out her Transformation Pen.

"I think if we just hit it hard enough with a rock, it should break," Bonnie said.

"Like this one?" Artie asked, picking up a large rock from the edge of the pond and carrying it over.

"That should work fine," Bonnie said. Artie nodded and began pounding on the ring. After just three hits, they heard a crack and saw whisps of orange mist-like energy come floating out from under the rock. The energy floated around the yard for a moment before flying towards Christina, who moaned a little as it re-entered her body.

"That's all we can do for now, I'm afraid," Bonnie said. Artie nodded and returned the rock to the pond, noticing that the ring had snapped in two.

"Let's get her inside, this night air won't help her to defeat the darkness inside her," he said. The others nodded, and then the six of them lifted Christina up and carried her gently inside and upstairs.

* * *

"Where is that runty little Princess? She should be back by now," Zoisite said, pacing around Christina's cavern.

"Calm down, Zoisite, perhaps she's simply taking her time with the Scouts," Kunzite said. The two Generals looked up as a light flashed, and then a tiny orange orb appeared in a hole in the wall behind the pod.

"Then what's that?" Zoisite asked, pointing at it.

"Those girls are more resourceful than I thought. The Princess' true self has taken back control. The darkness is still inside her, though. That ball of energy would be fully formed if she had completely defeated the darkness," Kunzite frowned.

"That's just fantastic, Kunzite, what are we going to tell Queen Beryl?"

"I'm not sure... Perhaps we should just keep quiet for now."

"Queen Beryl's going to be very unhappy when she hears of these things we're being quiet about," Zoisite said, before turning and leaving. Kunzite frowned at Zoisite's comment, watching the ball of energy continue to grow.

"Never mind, Queen Beryl will be pleased with this energy that we've gained for her," he murmured.

* * *

"Steph, Luna, I hate to say it, but I think it would be wise if we don't sleep in Christina's room until she's completely defeated the darkness inside her. We don't want Dark Venus springing on us during the night," Artie said, taking Christina's Transformation Pen from her pocket and looking sadly at the purple handle for a moment, before placing it on the bedside table and pulling the blankets up to Christina's shoulders.

"I don't like treating Christina like an enemy when we know she's back, but you have a good point. Looks like we'll have to take this mattress downstairs," Lucy said, grabbing one end of the mattress. The Scouts all grabbed part of the mattress too, and together they heaved it downstairs, leaving Artie alone with Christina.

"Oh, Christina, I'm so glad you came back. I'm sorry for suggesting that plan, it's only made things worse for everyone. Hang in there, you can beat the darkness, I know you can. We all believe in you. Just keep fighting," Artie whispered, clasping Christina's hand.

"Artemis? It's getting kind of late, and we should probably get some dinner and go to bed soon," Lucy said, walking back to the door just then. Artie stood up and sighed.

"Keep fighting, Christina," Artie whispered, before closing and locking the door.

"I wish we didn't have to lock her in, but it's for the best. Let's get some dinner," Artie said, taking the key from the keyhole and walking downstairs with Lucy beside him.

"Well, hopefully we won't have to do it for long," Lucy said, watching as Steph ordered pizza over the phone. _Hang in there, Christina,_ Artie thought sadly.

* * *

Artemis woke awoke the next morning to find sunlight streaming through the window and the Sailor V clock on the mantelpiece tinkling its tune and showing that it was 10:00. He stretched and yawned, then changed forms and went upstairs to Christina's room, where he pulled out the key and paused, a soft moan reaching his ears. Artie carefully unlocked the door and peered around it to find Christina flinching in her sleep and breathing heavily.

"Christina..." Artie said, walking over to the bed and kneeling down.

"No... Get out... leave me alone... you're not me anymore..." Christina murmured, tossing and turning fitfully.

"Come on, Christina, you can beat the darkness, just keep fighting," he said, clasping her hand. Christina groaned and rolled over in her sleep.

"Artemis... help me..." she gasped weakly.

"Christina, what's wrong?"

"I can't... she's too strong... I can't fight her..."

"Don't say that, Christina, you're stronger than you think, you have to keep fighting!"

"I'll try..."

"You can do it, I'm here, I believe in you," Artie said, clasping her hand. After a few tense moments, Christina calmed down, and Artie sighed. "That's it, just keep fighting. You can do it, you have to," he whispered. _The darkness is getting stronger again,_ Artie thought, frowning. Christina stirred and opened her eyes, staring blankly up at the ceiling.

"Artemis... Is Lucky safe?" Christina whispered.

"Lucky? Your dog?"

"Yeah... Protect him, Artemis..." Christina whispered, her eyes sinking closed again.

"I'm not sure I see why, but I will," Artie said, giving Christina's hand one final squeeze, before getting up and going back downstairs, where he found Bonnie, Dee, Phoenix and Lucy seated around the kitchen table.

"Morning, Artemis, how's Christina doing?" Lucy asked.

"Not good. She's beaten the darkness for now, but she's losing the will to fight it," Artie said sadly.

"I hope she can get rid of it before it gets too strong," Bonnie said. Just then Steph appeared in the doorway with the flashing Crescent Moon Wand in her hand and a confused look on her face.

"Luna? The Wand's going off again," Steph said, holding it up. Just then, they heard a beep, and Lucy changed forms and went to the cupboard, where she opened the secret hatch and switched the computer on to find another black dot blinking on the map.

"Wait a sec... That's here! That's over Christina's house!" Phoenix said.

"Over the back yard, to be precise," Artie said, his eyes widening.

"But who's the Crystal Carrier?" Steph asked, confused.

"It's Lucky," Artie said gravely, turning and staring out the window at the black and white dog, who was curled up asleep in a flower bed.

"Lucky? Christina's dog Lucky? Is that who you mean, Artemis?" Dee asked. Artie nodded.

"Christina just asked me to protect him, so I think she knows he's a Crystal Carrier," he said.

"But... aren't the Crystal Carriers supposed to be people?" Phoenix asked.

"Not necessarily," Artie said.

"Should we bring him in here?" Phoenix asked.

"Zoisite will probably be along sometime today, but if Lucky's in here, then there's no way for the Orange Crystal to be removed, and therefore no way for us to complete the Imperium Silver Crystal. We'll just have to keep an eye on him and be ready for whenever Zoisite shows up," Artie said. The others nodded and stared out at Lucky, who slept on, unaware of his importance.

* * *

"It's so cold... Why does the darkness have to be so cold?" Christina moaned, staring around the shadowy grey plain of her dreams. She sank to her knees, her eyes burning with the tears that she was determined not to let go. "How could I have let things go so far? The darkness took over so easily, and I can't figure out why." Christina hugged herself and curled up, shivering as the cold intensified.

"Guys... Artemis... She's getting stronger... Help me," Christina whispered, closing her eyes.

* * *

"What was that?" Luna asked, looking up as she heard a loud thump. They froze, listening hard. _Thump._ Then Artie's eyes widened as a loud moan followed.

"Oh, no," Artie said fearfully, before running back upstairs with the others at his heels. They burst into Christina's bedroom to find her tossing and turning in her sleep.

"Come on, Christina, keep fighting it, you can beat it!" Artie said, clasping her hand.

"What's going on?" Dee gasped.

"The darkness is getting stronger again," Artie said.

"No... I won't let you... you're not me... get out of my head..." Christina murmured, tossing and turning.

"Keep fighting, Chrissy! We're all here for you, we know you can do it!" Steph called. Slowly, Christina calmed down and lay panting under the tangle of blankets.

"Did she beat it?" Phoenix asked. Bonnie pulled out the Mercury Computer and typed away for a few moments, then sighed.

"Yes, she did. It's still inside her, though, and it's only going to get stronger unless she can get rid of it," Bonnie said.

"Keep fighting, Christina, we believe in you," Artie whispered. Just then, they heard a loud barking from outside, and, thinking that Zoisite was attacking, ran back downstairs. Instead of Zoisite, they found Lucky barking at a cat on the fence.

"Lucky! Leave that poor cat alone!" Artie yelled. Lucky turned and stared at Artie for a few moments, then turned back to the fence to find that the cat had gone. He sniffed at the fence for a few moments, then went and picked up a tattered teddy to chew on. Artie shook his head and sighed. "False alarm, guys," he said. The others sighed and sat down on the couch, their thoughts returning to Christina.

* * *

Upstairs, Christina stirred and opened her eyes, tears of relief forming when she saw where she was.

She climbed slowly out of bed and locked her bedroom door, then went to her bedside table. She gasped when she saw the Transformation Pen sitting there. _I didn't know things had gotten that bad. My Transformation Pen is just as freaky as I was. This colour is so... evil._ Driving the dark purple Pen from her mind, she opened the top drawer and retrieved the diary key, then turned to the bed and pulled out her diary. _I'm still not sure what happened. How did things get so bad?_ she wondered._ Maybe I can find something in here... _She unlocked and opened the diary, an entry catching her eye almost immediately.

"...I'm not sure why, but I get the feeling that I'm supposed to be more than who I am, like there's some part of me that's missing. I wish I knew what, 'cause it's a really strange feeling. Oh well, I guess I can't sit around thinking about it forever. Hopefully things'll work out eventually. Over and Out, Christina." _Even before I became a Sailor Scout I knew that I had a higher purpose, _Christina thought as she began flipping slowly through the pages. Another entry caught her eye, and a small smile formed on her face as she began to read.

"Dear Diary, I caught three more burglars last night. It was really hard, since they were all working together to rob the jewellery store, and two of them had guns. The third guy had a knife, which wasn't as scary as the guns, but it still made things harder. I was watching them go into the store from the roof of a shop of the other side of the road, and when the first guy came out, I jumped off the roof and landed in front of him. He pulled out his knife, but I did a backflip and kicked it out of his hand. The second guy showed up and pointed his gun at me, but I kicked the gun out of his hand and caught it. I pointed the gun at the two of them, and then the third guy appeared, and he was standing behind me with his gun pointed at my back. I did a backflip over that guy and kicked him in the back of the head as I went over, knocking him onto the ground on top of his gun. Then I landed with my feet on his arms, so he couldn't move to get his gun. The other two tried to run away, but the police finally showed up and arrested all three, and I was able to leave. I enjoy catching burglars, but it still doesn't seem quite right. Sailor V just doesn't feel like the part of me that I was missing, although I'm not sure what is. I can't shake the feeling that I'm still missing some part of me. I wish I knew what it was... Over and Out, Christina." Christina sighed thoughtfully and kept flipping slowly through until she reached the last few entries, where yet another entry leapt out at her.

"Dear Diary, Being the Moon Princess is a lot harder than I'd thought it would be. I have so much more responsibility, and I'm also a huge target, although that's kind of the point. I'm kinda worried, though, 'cause there's so much more pressure on me to not mess up. I just hope that the Negaverse doesn't realise what we're up to, 'cause then I'll be in deep trouble. There are some benefits to being the Moon Princess, though. Like my Silver Crystal Tiara. Stupid Zoisite took the bait and I blew the tiara up right in her face! She was really mad, but she was asking for it. Luna and the others moved in after my party today, and they seem to be adjusting to calling me "Christina" instead of "Princess". It just doesn't seem right to call me "Princess". Mind you, being the Princess doesn't seem quite right either, and I seriously can't figure out why. I don't want to mention that to Artemis, though, 'cause we've both gone to a lot of trouble to set things up like this. Oh well, hopefully thing'll work out. Over and Out, Christina." Christina gently placed her diary and its key on her bedside table and sat down on the bed, thinking hard. _No wonder things got out control._ _Even though I got my memories of the Silver Millennium back, I still don't know who I truly am in this life, _Christina thought._ Artemis' plan didn't really help either; all that did was confuse me more. I guess I was focusing on my mission so fiercely 'cause it was part of a time when I _did_ know who I was. So now the question is, what's my next move? I don't want to risk fighting the Negaverse again when this darkness is still inside of me, but I don't know how to get rid of it. My past self would know what to do... Maybe one of my memories can help me. _Christina stared at the wall, trying to remember something besides her mission. After a few moments, she gasped. _How could I have let this happen? I was so focused on my mission, I... I blocked out pretty much all of my other memories._

"Great. That's just _brilliant,_ Christina. You're an absolute genius. Now what are you gonna do?" she asked, frowning. _I know my past self would have some idea how to get rid of the darkness, but I just don't remember. _"I guess there's nothing else for it, then. If I can't remember, then I'm just going to have to go back and see my past self again. But... how can I? I don't have a time machine or anything like that... Wait... If I can communicate with my dark form through my dreams... Then surely I could do the same with my past form!" Christina nodded and smiled, then turned to her bedside table and stared at her Transformation Pen._ I hate the way this thing looks, but it's my only direct link to my past form. _She grimaced, then picked up the Pen, feeling slightly relieved that nothing happened. Clutching the Pen tightly, she climbed back into bed and closed her eyes, thinking hard about the Silver Millennium.

* * *

"Do you guys sense that?" Dee asked, looking up.

"Yeah, that's her alright," Steph said, frowning.

"I think... I think she's on the roof," Phoenix whispered, looking up.

"We'd better get out there, then," Bonnie said.

"Right! Moon Prism Power!"

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!" the loungeroom filled with pink, blue, red and green light, and then the Scouts ran outside to find Lucky running around the yard and barking at Zoisite, who was floating in the air above the house.

"Oh, how dull. You brats have a habit of turning up when you're not wanted, don't you," Zoisite said.

"We'll always be around to stop you, Zoisite!" Sailor Moon shouted.

"See if you can stop these!" Zoisite said, throwing a handful of tiny black crystals into the grass and creating a dozen grass youma.

"I'll handle this one, guys. Mars Fire Ignite!" Mars yelled, shooting fireballs at the youma, which caught fire and then disintegrated into dust. Zoisite frowned and threw three larger black crystals into the yard, which flew around and turned three of the garden statues into youma.

"Moon Twilight Flash!" Sailor Moon yelled, sending glowing pink-and-silver orbs flying at the youma, which didn't appear to notice the orbs punch huge holes in them. "Yeah! Got them!"

"Guess again," Mercury said, typing on her computer.

"What do you mean?" Sailor Moon asked.

"You didn't hit their weak spots, so those holes are going to disappear," Mercury said.

"What? So what do we do?" Jupiter asked.

"Hit them in the head, that's where they're weakest!" Mercury said. Just then, the Scouts heard a loud yelp, and turned to find Zoisite holding a writhing Lucky under her arm.

"Let him go!" Sailor Moon yelled.

"I think not, this little runt has something I want. Zoi!" Zoisite yelled, holding her black crystal above Lucky, who began yelping madly as the waves opened a hole in his furry belly, revealing a glowing orange crystal inside.

"Haha, the Orange Crystal is all mine!" Zoisite said, reaching out to take it as it floated towards her.

"Not so fast! Moon Tiara Magic!" Sailor Moon's tiara flew through the air and knocked the Orange Crystal out of Zoisite's hand. Zoisite yelled angrily as the Orange Crystal fell into a large patch of long grass. She placed Lucky on the ground and began pawing through the grass, searching for the Crystal.

"Thank goodness we've been so busy, that grass is so long it'll slow her down," Mars said.

"But not for long, so we'd better act fast! Mercury Bubbles Blast!" Mercury shouted, covering the yard in fog.

"Good idea, Mercury," Jupiter said, squinting through the fog, her tiara extending its lightning rod and crackling with green electricity. She grinned when she spotted a tall white figure through the mist.

"There you are! Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter yelled, sending a large lightning bolt at the youma, which exploded into dust the second the lightning connected with its head.

"Duck, Jupiter! Shine Aqua Illusion!" Mercury yelled. Jupiter flattened herself against the ground, and Mercury's half-frozen hailstorm flew over her and struck another of the youma in the face, destroying it too.

"Two down, one to go. Where's the last one gone?" Sailor Moon asked. Just then, the fog lifted, and the Scouts could see Artemis running towards the back door with his tail wrapped around the Orange Crystal. Fortunately, neither Zoisite or her youma noticed, as Zoisite was still searching through the long grass, and the youma was standing over its creator, having thought that she was one of the Scouts through the fog.

"There's the third one! Moon Tiara..."

"Mercury Bubbles..."

"Mars Fire..."

"Supreme..."

"Magic!" "Blast!" "Ignite!" "Thunder!" the four attacks merged and struck the youma, turning it to dust.

"You're next, Zoisite!" Sailor Moon yelled. Zoisite stood up, blazing in anger.

"I'll find that crystal later. For now I'll deal with you!"

"You looking for this?" Artemis called from inside the house, holding the Orange Crystal up.

"How did you get that? Give it here, furball!" Zoisite yelled, running towards the open back door. Just as she reached the doorframe, she was thrown backwards by a huge invisible forcefield that rippled silver when she came into contact with it.

"What the...?"

"You really think we weren't smart enough to put a shield around the house after your first youma got in?" Artemis asked. Zoisite didn't reply, instead creating two huge black crystals and throwing them against the shield, which rippled madly but did not break. Zoisite slammed the crystals into forcefield over and over, not noticing that large cracks were forming in the crystals. Eventually the two crystals shattered, sending a rain of black shards down onto Zoisite's head.

"Grrr... I'll get that crystal back from you somehow, mark my words!" Zoisite hissed, pulling a large splinter of crystal out of her hair. Just then, a ray of dark energy erupted around Lucky, turning him into a huge orange dragon.

"Is it just me, or is he bigger than all the others?" Sailor Moon asked.

"I think he just looks a lot bigger because his normal form is so much smaller than all the others," Mercury said.

"Ah, perfect timing, Anaranjado! Destroy this shield!" Zoisite yelled, pointing at the house. Anaranjado roared and flapped his wings, taking to the sky and flying away.

"Darn it! Why won't they listen to me?" Zoisite yelled, before disappearing in a whirl of black petals.

"Let's get after him!" Jupiter yelled. The other Scouts nodded and vaulted over the fence, following the retreating orange dragon-youma.

* * *

"Wow, this place is huge! I used to live here?" Christina asked, staring up at the huge, pale-yellow towers of the palace before her.

"That's right, girlfriend, you did," a familiar voice said. Christina turned to find a young girl in a long pale-orange dress sitting on the back of a large yellow winged horse. She jumped gracefully off the horse's back and patted it, the starlight glinting off of the small silver tiara in her long blonde hair. "Thanks, Starshine."

"You... but... you're me!"

"You've lost your way, girl. You've blocked me out," the young princess said.

"I know, I never meant for this to happen..."

"You've also forgotten your true self."

"I... I don't think I ever really knew who my true self is. At least not in my present life," Christina said sadly. The princess smiled and winked.

"Not to worry, I can help you get all of your memories back, and help you to learn who you truly are. But there's something you have to do first."

"What?"

"That darkness. While it's still inside you, we can't change anything. You have to get rid of it."

"I've tried, but I can't seem to do anything more than stop it from taking over."

"Let's see if we can do something about that, shall we?" the young princess said, touching her finger to Christina's forehead.

* * *

"Luna, Artemis, we're on the main street. Call the other Crystal Carriers for us, we might need their help," Sailor Moon said over the phone.

"Got it, we'll get on it," Lucy said.

"You can count on us," Artie added, before pressing a button on his phone. He was just about to call Skye when Lucy put her hand on his shoulder.

"I'll do that, Artemis. You go check on Christina," she said. Artie hesitated, then nodded.

"OK, thanks," he said, before heading upstairs. He peeked around the door, relieved to find that Christina was calm. Then he gasped when he caught sight of the top of Christina's Transformation Pen poking out from under her blankets. _She must've woken up for a moment,_ he thought, noticing Christina's diary and key lying on the bedside table. Just then, Christina let out a small whimper and then began tossing and turning again.

"Keep fighting, Christina. You can beat it, I know you can," Artie said. Christina groaned in reply and rolled over.

* * *

Christina doubled over gasping, her body suddenly feeling like it was on fire. A few long seconds later, a cloud of dark purple smoke burst out of her, reforming into a shadowy human-like form. Christina looked up and gasped as the creature before her gained colour, turning into Dark Venus.

"It's you! But how?" Christina gasped. The young princess smiled.

"I just used my powers to extract the darkness from you. But now you have to defeat her, or she'll go back in again," she said.

"I'm looking forward to this, weakling," Dark Venus hissed,

"I am not weak! You shut up, you're not in charge anymore, I am! And I'm not going to let you hurt my friends again!" Christina shouted.

"Well I can tell that you're ready to fight her, so here," the young princess said, taking Christina's hands into her own. A wave of orange light flowed up Christina's arms and over her body, changing her into Sailor Venus. "Good luck," the princess whispered, before stepping back over to Starshine.

"Playtime," Dark Venus hissed, conjuring a sword.

"If you insist," Sailor Venus said, conjuring one of her own. An instant later, the two swords collided together fiercely, sending a spray of black and orange sparks flying.

"I'm looking forward to playing with your friends some more," Dark Venus sneered.

"Over my dead body," Sailor Venus hissed back.

"I'd like to see you try, weakling."

"Oh, I'll do way more than try. I'll defeat you once and for all!" Dark Venus pushed Sailor Venus' sword away and swung hard, sending Sailor Venus' sword flying from her hand. Dark Venus pointed her sword at Sailor Venus' throat and grinned.

"That was easy," she smiled. Sailor Venus span away from the sword point and then backflipped away from her enemy, who followed, sword still raised. "Where are you running to, weakling? Don't tell me you're a coward too." Sailor Venus stopped and posed, smiling.

"Wrong again, idiot," she said, staring past Dark Venus at a wall of orange-and-silver arrows. Dark Venus glanced over her shoulder, her eyes widening in anger when she saw the arrows.

"Hey, that's cheating!"

"You expect me to play fair? I know perfectly well that you're not going to," Sailor Venus frowned.

"Well I was going to play fair, but I don't think I will anymore," Dark Venus said, creating a wall of black-and-purple arrows behind Sailor Venus, whose frown deepened when she saw it.

"So it's going to come down to this, is it? We're both going to take the full force of these walls? I don't think that's what you really want do, now is it," Sailor Venus asked. To her surprise, Dark Venus started to laughed.

"The weakling isn't very smart at all!" Dark Venus cackled.

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't have a physical form! These arrows will just go straight through me without hurting me at all!"

"Then why were you so angry about me creating half of them?"

"I guess I just expected you to play fair, considering you're such a goody-goody. And it's too bad you created so many, because I can control your arrows too," Dark Venus grinned, before sending both walls of arrows smashing together, creating a huge cloud of smoke and sparks. She chuckled softly, then turned to the young princess. "She really didn't put up much of a fight at all." To Dark Venus' surprise, the young princess giggled.

"You really have a habit of understimating Sailor Scouts, don't you," she said. Dark Venus frowned in confusion, then yelped as a yellow beam of light burst out of the smoke and missed her by millimetres.

"Oi, freako! I'm not finished with you yet!" a voice yelled. Dark Venus turned and watched as the smoke cleared, revealing a sea of shattered arrows. In the centre of the battlefield stood Sailor Venus, her arms raised above her head, a glowing orange protective bubble rippling around her. She let the bubble fade and glared at Dark Venus. "You may not have a physical form, but I still have one major advantage over you."

"And what would that be, weakling?"

"You were made based off of me, so you don't know who you truly are either," Sailor Venus said, conjuring another sword. _And that tells me exactly where your weak points are,_ she thought.

"Well, aren't you a smarty pants. Let's see if that little piece of information gives you any help whatsoever, shall we?" Dark Venus said, raising her sword and running forward. The two swords crashed together a few times, then Dark Venus got her sword past Sailor Venus' and traced a thin cut across her face. Sailor Venus gasped and staggered back, wiping the blood from her eyes. After a few seconds, she looked up again and the two of them began circling each other.

* * *

"Hi guys! Just got your message!" Ethan called as he, Jess and Jayden ran after the scouts, who smiled back at them.

"Who's that up there?" Jayden asked, pointing up at the orange dragon they were following.

"That's Anaranjado, the last Crystal Carrier! He's really Chrissy's dog Lucky!" Sailor Moon called back to them.

"What? That giant monster is little Lucky?" Jess asked.

"Unfortunately, yes, and we have to stop him before he starts destroying anything!" Mercury called.

"Hey, he's going down!" Mars said, pointing up at their target. They rounded a corner and ran down a steep hill, noticing where they were headed.

"He's landing in Lake Pertobe!" Jupiter shouted. Sailor Moon pulled her phone out and called Luna's number again.

"Luna, call Amy, Alex and Skye and tell them he's landed at Lake Pertobe. The other three are already with us," she said, before flipping her phone shut and picking up speed. They skidded to a stop in a large grassy area, where Anaranjado had landed and was already stamping on trees.

"Moon Healing Activation!" Sailor Moon called, holding out the Crescent Moon Wand. The mist floated over Anaranjado, who didn't seem to notice its effects.

"He didn't even flinch!" Sailor Moon gasped.

"We'll have to weaken him a lot if we're going to heal him!" Mercury said.

"Moon Twilight Flash!"

"Shine Aqua Illusion!"

"Akuryo Taisan!"

"Flower Hurricane!" the four attacks flew through the air and bounced off of Anaranjado, who turned and growled at them.

"We hardly even made a scratch!" Jupiter gasped.

"He's probably got a lot more energy because his normal form is so much smaller than all the others," Mercury said.

"So what do we do?" Mars asked, before diving out of the way of a large jet of flourescent-orange flame.

"I think we'll need you three as well," Sailor Moon said, turning to Ethan, Jess and Jayden, who nodded and closed their eyes. An instant later, Azul, Purpura and Verde stepped forward and breathed jets of brightly-coloured flame at Anaranjado, who responded with one of his own. "Where are the others? We need them here now!" Sailor Moon said, stepping back from the intense heat generated by the flames.

* * *

"You wanna know why I was created so easily?" Dark Venus sneered.

"Why?" Sailor Venus asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Because you are so weak."

"I may be weak, but I'm still strong enough to beat you."

"Get real, weakling. You're never going to defeat me."

"Oh yes, I am. And you wanna know why?"

"Why?"

"Because you're just as weak as I am."

"I'm much stronger than you ever were!" Dark Venus spat.

"You're not, and I'll prove it to you," Sailor Venus said, before charging forward. Dark Venus' sword went up to block Sailor Venus' sword, but Sailor Venus twirled her sword and used its momentum to pull the sword out of Dark Venus' grip. Sailor Venus stepped back, twirling both swords and grinning. "See? I know your weaknesses. But you don't know mine, because you just wanted to charge right in without thinking."

"So what, you took my sword. I can easily conjure another one," Dark Venus said, demonstrating her words.

"No matter how many swords you create, I'll still beat you," Sailor Venus said, charging forward. The two black-and-purple swords crashed together and flew aside, and Sailor Venus swung her orange-and-silver sword at the back of Dark Venus' head, the blade glowing faintly. The next thing Dark Venus knew, she was sprawled on the ground with Sailor Venus standing over her.

"How did you do that?" Dark Venus hissed.

"Told you I know your weaknesses," Sailor Venus smiled, taking her orange-and-silver sword in both hands, the glowing intensifying until it was almost blinding. Dark Venus rolled over onto her back and stared up in horror at the glowing blade.

"No... Impossible! Where is this power coming from?" Dark Venus gasped.

"My friends always believed in me, and now I believe in myself too," Sailor Venus said, staring down at her enemy.

"You'll never defeat me!" Dark Venus yelled. Sailor Venus frowned slightly, her body tingling with the effort of keeping the blade glowing.

"It ends here," she whispered, before plunging the sword downwards.

* * *

Artie watched nervously as Christina suddenly stopped flailing and lay still, her loud panting echoing around the room.

"How's she doing, Artemis?" Lucy asked, peeking around the door.

"I'm not sure... she seems to be a lot calmer now, but I'm not entirely sure what that means," Artemis said.

"She'll be alright, she's strong."

* * *

A high, sad wail filled the air as Dark Venus disintegrated into dust, leaving the glowing sword lodged in the cold marble floor. Sailor Venus let go of the sword and stepped back, panting hard.

"I knew you could do it, Christina. Nice work," the young princess said, walking over. Sailor Venus sighed, then turned to face the princess.

"I'm tired. I wanna go home now," she said.

"And you will, but we can't let you go back without giving you a reward, now can we? Close you eyes," the princess instructed. Sailor Venus nodded and did as she was told, and the princess touched her finger to the gold Crescent Moon on Sailor Venus' forehead. Sailor Venus gasped as her memories of her past life flooded her mind and tickled her senses. At the same time, the Crescent Moon vanished to be replaced by a glowing orange Venus symbol. Sailor Venus slowly opened her eyes, a name popping into her head instantly when she saw the smiling princess before her.

"Aphrodite."

"That's me! Now you'd better go, the others will need your help," Aphrodite said. Sailor Venus looked around curiously as an orange mist began to fill the air. "Good luck, Christina, although after how well you did against Dark Venus, I don't think you really need it."

"Wait! I can't go yet!"

"You still haven't figured your true identity out?"

"I..."

"Who you are is more than either of your lives. You're both of your identities now!"

* * *

"Oh, Luna, I'm so worried. What if the darkness has taken control again?" Artie asked, staring out the window.

"Don't say that, Artemis, she'll be OK, you just have to believe in her," Lucy said.

"I do, it's just... That darkness is so strong," Artie sighed. Just then, they heard a gentle moan from behind them, and turned to find Christina blinking dazedly at the ceiling.

"Christina! You're awake!" Artie cried. Christina sat up and gripped her Transformation Pen tightly.

"Where are the others?" she asked.

"They're at Lake Pertobe, fighting Lucky," Artie said. Christina nodded and stood up, tucking her Transformation Pen into her pocket.

"Christina? Are you alright?" Artie asked.

"I have to go," Christina said, her eyes shining with determination. She walked downstairs and out the front door, before breaking into a run and heading towards Lake Pertobe. _I hope this works... _she thought, pulling out her Transformation Pen as she ran.

"Venus Power!" the Pen blinked and flashed, but nothing happened. Christina skidded to a stop and stared at the Pen in dismay. "Venus Power!" Again, the Pen did nothing more than flash."Oh, fine then, Venus Dark Power!" This time, the Pen worked, transforming Christina into Dark Venus. _If I have to go into battle as Dark Venus, then so be it. Better that than not being able to help them at all, _Dark Venus thought, before setting off again._ Hang on, guys, I'm coming.

* * *

_

"Hi guys! I'm here! Whoa," Skye gasped, running over and staring at the four dragons, who were still breathing fire at each other.

"They're so big," a voice whispered. The Scouts turned to find Amy staring up at the dragons. Just then, they heard a horn beep, and they looked around to see Alex climbing out of a car, which drove off as soon as he had shut the door.

"How can I help?" he asked. Just then, a loud buzzing erupted from Sailor Moon's pocket, and she pulled out her phone and flipped it open.

"Steph, Christina's awake and she's on her way over. We don't know if she's still on our side or not, so be careful," Luna said.

"OK, thanks for letting us know, Luna," Sailor Moon said, before putting her phone away. "Chrissy's on her way over, but she might be evil again. Luna just called to warn us."

"I hope she's alright,"

"You three need to search inside yourselves for your power so you can transform and help us fight Anaranjado," Mars said. The three of them nodded and closed their eyes, while the Scouts returned to the fighting.

"Moon Twilight Flash!"

"Shine Aqua Illusion!"

"Mars Fire Ignite!"

"Supreme Thunder!" the four attacks struck Anaranjado's side and bounced off.

"Why aren't our attacks working?" Mars asked. Just then, yellow, red and indigo rays of energy enveloped the three Crystal Carriers, transforming them into their dragon forms. Amarillo, Rojo and Anil stepped forward and added their own streams of fire to the ones that the other three were still breathing at Anaranjado, who was unfazed by the doubling of his opposition.

"Hey, that's pretty cool! Rainbow fire!" Mars said, stepping back away from the flames, which were charring the grass black.

"Never mind how cool it looks, we have to help them weaken Anaranjado! Moon Twilight Flash!"

"Shine Aqua Illusion!"

"Akuryo Taisan!"

"Flower Hurricane!" the four attacks merged with the six multi-coloured flames, which engulfed Anaranjado and extinguished his orange flames. After the attacks died down, the Scouts looked up to find Anaranjado singed and very angry.

"How can that not have had an effect?" Mars gasped.

"It did, it just wasn't strong enough!" Mercury said, typing on her computer.

"How are we going to weaken him enough to heal him, that was everything we had and it barely hurt him at all!" Mars cried.

"You girls are pathetic," a voice said snidely. The Scouts looked up to find Kunzite floating above them.

"What are you doing here?" Jupiter asked, glaring at him.

"Queen Beryl sent us to finish you off," Kunzite replied.

"What do you mean, 'us'?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Kunzite is referring to the three of us," a voice said. The Scouts span around to find Zoisite, Jadeite and Nephrite glaring at them.

"I've been looking forward to destroying you, Sailor Scouts," Jadeite hissed.

"You two are still alive?" Jupiter gasped.

"Indeed we are, no thanks to you and your bratty Princess," Nephrite said coldly.

"So are we going to fight, or are you just going to stand there yakking away all day?" Sailor Moon asked, taking off her tiara and turning it into a sword. The other three scouts conjured swords too and went into battle poses.

"So be it," Kunzite said as he and the other three generals conjured Dark Swords. An instant later, the eight of them were fighting viciously, the air filling with sparks.

"Enough!" a voice yelled. The Scouts and the Generals stepped apart, looking around for the source of the voice.

"Who said that?" Kunzite roared.

"I did," Dark Venus said, climbing to the top of a nearby playground.

"Chrissy..." Sailor Moon whispered. Dark Venus glanced at her friend, then jumped off the playground, landing between the two sides. She glanced to her left to see the Scouts looking apprehensive, then to her right at the grinning Generals

"They're all yours, Princess," Kunzite said, stepping back.

"That's very kind of you, Kunzite," Dark Venus said coolly, before turning to glare at him and conjuring a sword. "But I don't think I'll be taking up your offer any time soon."

"You've defeated the darkness I put in you, I see. You're much stronger than I expected," Kunzite said, frowning.

"I'm as strong as I believe I am," Dark Venus hissed. Kunzite glared at her and raised his sword, and then the four Generals charged towards Dark Venus together, who quickly conjured a second sword and began fighting furiously, only just managing to block the blows that were raining down on her.

"Christina, what are you doing?" Artie yelled, having arrived just then with Lucy by his side.

"Leave me alone, Artemis, I know what I'm doing!" Dark Venus yelled, before yelping as a sword came incredibly close to her hair.

"Chrissy... We have to help her!" Sailor Moon cried, running forward, sword raised. She was just about to join the fray when one of the Dark Swords swung wide, narrowly missing her.

"I got this, girls! Go help Lucky!" Dark Venus yelled, twirling around and blocking blow after blow.

"Christina, you can't take all four of them on by yourself! Don't be stupid!" Artie yelled. Just then, the four Generals stopped attacking and pointed their swords at Dark Venus, who glanced around at them, realising that they had her surrounded.

"Once we've defeated you, little Princess, we'll take great pleasure in defeating your friends too," Zoisite sneered. Dark Venus glared at the female General, her senses tingling and alert. Just as the four Generals swung their swords, she jumped over them and landed a short distance away. Dark Venus turned around and glared at the Generals, her eyes blazing in anger.

"I'm not going to let you hurt my friends ever again," she yelled. The Generals scowled at her, then gasped as Dark Venus began to glow with a bright orange light.

"Christina... You've awoken your Scout Powers!" Artie cried. Dark Venus' sword fell from her hand as she closed her eyes, marvelling at the power flowing through her body. At the same time, the orange light pulsed repeatedly, washing all trace of the darkness out of her outfit.

"Chrissy! You're back to normal!" Sailor Moon cried. Sailor Venus opened her eyes and examined herself for a moment, before her head snapped back up to glare at the Generals.

"Ooh, I'm so scared," Kunzite said sarcastically.

"You should be, buster," Sailor Venus whispered, before a silver bow appeared in one hand and a large orange-and silver arrow appeared in the other. Nocking the arrow, she pulled the bowstring taut and took aim at Kunzite. "Any last words?"

"You're a brat," Kunzite hissed. Sailor Venus smiled.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me," she said in a singsong voice. "Oh, and by the way, Zoisite, I did take the Red Crystal. Thanks for leaving it out unprotected, it made things so much easier for me."

"Ooh, I'll make you pay, you bratty Princess!" Zoisite said, charging forward. Sailor Venus smiled and then released her arrow. Zoisite screamed in pain and then left in a flurry of black petals, the orange-and-silver arrow embedded in her leg.

"We'll be back for you later, Princess," Kunzite hissed, before he and the other two generals vanished. Sailor Venus sighed and let her bow disappear, then gasped as she remembered the other half of the battle.

"Oh, no! Lucky!" she gasped, before running over to the seven dragons, who were wrestling fiercely.

"Let's attack together, you guys!" Sailor Venus yelled. The six healed Crystal Carriers glanced at her and then pulled away, lining up side by side. "Ready, girls?" she asked, glancing at the other Scouts, who smiled and nodded. The six crystal carriers roared and breathed large jets of red, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet flame at Anaranjado.

"Moon Twilight Flash!"

"Shine Aqua Illusion!"

"Mars Fire Ignite!"

"Flower Hurricane!"

"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" the five attacks merged with the flames, creating a huge, brightly-coloured cyclone around Anaranjado, who howled in agony. When the attacks subsided, they looked up to see Anaranjado looking exhaustedly down at them.

"Go for it, Steph!" Lucy yelled.

"Moon Healing Activation!" Sailor Moon cried, thrusting the Crescent Moon Wand into the air. Anaranjado howled again as the silver glitter changed his eyes from black to brown. The Scouts sighed with relief as the air around Anaranjado filled with orange sparkles, which changed him back into Lucky. The other Crystal Carriers nodded, then dtransformed and left. Sailor Venus smiled and knelt down beside her dog, petting him gently.

"Good boy, Lucky. Good boy," she whispered, before picking him up and hugging him.

"Chrissy," Sailor Moon said, stepping forward. Sailor Venus stood up slowly, her eyes filling with worry. Taking a deep breath, she turned to find all four Scouts, along with Luna and Artemis smiling at her. "Welcome back, Chrissy."

"I'm sorry for how I treated you guys, I'd understand if you didn't forgive me," Sailor Venus said, hanging her head in shame.

"It's alright, Christina, we know-"

"I hate the way I've been acting lately, I guess I kind of lost myself."

"We know it's not your fault, Christina, don't blame-"

"But I know that's no excuse. I don't deserve to call myself a Sailor Scout." Sailor Moon's eyes flashed in anger as she stepped forward and slapped Sailor Venus across the face, silencing her.

"Steph! What are you doing?" Luna yelled.

"Well she needs to stop beating herself up about it, we know it wasn't her fault!"

"That's no reason to hit her, Steph!" Sailor Venus touched her red cheek gently, her eyes watering from the stinging pain.

"We've forgiven her already, so she should just stop being stupid and forgive herself!"

"Even so, she's your friend, you shouldn't-"

"Thanks, Stephy, I guess I needed that," Sailor Venus said quietly. Luna stared at her, then sighed. Sailor Moon smiled.

"No problem, Chrissy."

"There's something else you guys should know..."

"What is it, Christina?" Mercury asked.

"Is it alright if I tell them the truth, Artemis?" Christina asked.

"I was just going to suggest it, Christina," Artemis replied.

"The truth about what?" Luna asked. Sailor Venus sighed.

"I hope you've still got some forgiveness left. See, when you awoke, Nixx, Artemis had an idea that would throw the Negaverse off, but the only way to make it work was to lie to you guys too," Sailor Venus said.

"What are you talking about?" Mars asked.

"See, I'm... I'm not really the Moon Princess," Sailor Venus admitted. Luna and the other Scouts gasped.

"You're not?"

"No, I'm not, I was only pretending to be the Princess to trick the Negaverse. Now that you know, I think it's about time to get rid of this," Sailor Venus said, touching the Crescent Moon on her forehead, which disappeared to be replaced by a gold Tiara with an orange gem in it. "Turns out the plan worked better than we expected, 'cause that's one of the reasons why Kunzite targeted me in the first place. He was worried that Beryl couldn't control the Silver Crystal, so he wanted to brainwash me into controlling it for them. I'm sorry for lying to you, guys. I never did feel very comfortable about it," Venus said, looking like she was about to burst into tears.

"It's OK, Chrissy, we don't mind, we're just glad to have you back," Sailor Moon said, hugging her cousin. The other Scouts nodded in agreement and wrapped their arms around the pair in a big group hug.

"Let's go home, girls, I'm exhausted," Venus said, her voice muffled by her friends. The girls nodded and took each other's hands, then walked home together, smiling and happy once more.


	14. Merry Christmas, Princess Serenity

Dee: I'm glad you're back, Christina.

Artemis: I think we all are, Christina.

Christina: Thanks, so am I. It's good to be back.

Steph: Hey, guys, it's almost Christmas!

Christina: Oh, yeah! Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings to all of you readers! Here's hoping you get what you wish for this holiday season! I am aware that not all readers celebrate Christmas, and my apologies to those who don't, as this chapter will be focusing on Christmas. But I hope you all enjoy it just the same!

Dee: Can I do the disclaimer?

Artemis: Sure!

Dee: Great! Sparrowflyaway doesn't own Sailor Moon, PGSM, or... well, Santa!

Christina: Yeah, I definitely don't own Santa.

Steph: That would make you Mrs Claus!

* * *

"Sheesh, I'm tired. I feel like I've been fighting non-stop for days!" Christina said, sinking into an armchair.

"Technically, you have been, Christina," Artemis said, jumping up onto his charge's lap and smiling at her. Christina giggled and smiled back.

"You're right Artemis. Thanks for getting through to me when I was... you know. Thanks, all of you. I couldn't have come back without your help."

"We're just glad we were able to get through to you, Chrissy. We really missed you," Steph said smiling.

"I missed you guys too," Christina said.

"You know what?" Artemis said, smiling around at the others.

"What?" Luna asked.

"I think this calls for a celebration!" Artemis smiled.

"Good idea! Break out the junk food, I'm starving!" Steph said. All seven of them burst out laughing at that.

"A party's not a bad idea, but I think we should break out something else first. This house looks kinda drab considering today's Christmas Eve!" Christina said.

"Oh, yeah! I completely forgot!" Dee said, wide-eyed.

"I think we all did," Artemis said.

"I vote we do some decorating around here," Bonnie said.

"Second!" Christina said, thrusting her hand into the air. The girls giggled again, then began clearing some of the books and things that were scattered around the loungeroom. Christina went upstairs for a few minutes, reappearing with three boxes. She dumped the boxes onto the lounge room floor and opened the long one, pulling out large plastic tree branches. While she set the tree up, the others investigated the other two boxes, which contained lots of decorations. They each grabbed some of the decorations and began placing them around the room, talking and laughing as they went. Artemis smiled, then transformed and walked over to the stereo system near the door. The girls looked up and smiled as the stereo began belting out the tune to "Jingle Bells". Christina started singing quietly along with the CD as she finished assembling the tree. Phoenix pulled a large string of fairy lights from one of the boxes and began untangling them.

"Hey, Nixx, you might wanna check that all of those lights work before you put them on the tree," Christina said. Phoenix nodded and placed her fingers on the plug, the lights glowing immediately.

"I guess they do," she smiled, before hanging the lights on the tree and winding them around. The others smiled and grabbed tinsel and baubles, then started in on the tree.

"Hey, Christina?" Bonnie asked, pulling a large piece of tinsel out of the box of decorations.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know who the real Princess is?" Christina hesitated, then said,

"Yeah, I do, but I'm not allowed to tell. The Princess has to awaken for herself."

"Awww! Come on, Chrissy, we can keep a secret," Steph said, doing her best puppy dog eyes. Christina laughed and handed Steph the silver star for the top of the Christmas tree.

"Sorry, Stephy, but that's one secret that I have to keep. I don't think I'll need to keep it for very long, though. The Princess won't be far away now that all the Crystals have been found," she said, grabbing a few baubles and hanging them on the tree.

"That's not very fair, Christina. You remember everything about your past life and you still won't share anything with us," Phoenix said.

"Trust me, Nixx, it'll all make sense soon enough. Now, I think we should have a party tomorrow, don't you?" Christina asked.

"Yeah!" the others chorused.

"I think we have a cake in the fridge. We should check what other stuff we have too," Christina said, hanging the last of her handful of baubles on the tree and going into the kitchen to see what party foods they had in the cupboard.

"Would you like me to go get the presents and put them under the tree, Christina?" Artie asked.

"Sure, that'd be good, thanks, Artemis," Christina said. Artie nodded and went upstairs, returning with ten brightly-coloured packages piled precariously in his arms.

"Oh, wow! Who are those for?" Dee asked, taking a few from the pile and placing them under the tree. "Hey, that one's got my name on it! And there's one for you, Luna!"

"Sure, you don't think I'd forget to give you guys Christmas presents, do you?" Christina smiled, closing the refrigerator. She glanced at the picture of her parents that was stuck to the door of the refrigerator, then paused as she noticed a small white card next to the picture. "Hey, what's this?" she asked, taking it down. "Who's Wilson Baxter?"

"Oh, he's a guy who makes TV and stage shows. Not long after you left on Sunday, he approached us and asked if he could make a stage show about us," Steph said.

"We haven't called him back yet, 'cause we wanted to get your opinion on it," Artie said. Christina frowned.

"Hmmmm... Well, if we were to give him permission, we'd have to keep him updated on what's happening, and that could be kinda risky, 'cause who knows who'd get hold of that information. We don't want to be shouting the Princess' identity to the world once she awakens. Or our own identities, for that matter. Still... A stage show might help convince people that we're not the bad guys around here," Christina said thoughtfully.

"So what are we gonna do?" Phoenix asked.

"Well, I think that so long as we're careful not to reveal our civilian identities to Wilson Baxter or anyone else involved, giving this thing the go-ahead should be fine," Artie said.

"Really?" Dee asked. Artie nodded.

"So who's gonna make the call?" Bonnie asked.

"I'll do it, I guess," Christina said, picking up the phone.

"Do you think it's safe to be calling in Civilian form?" Luna asked.

"It should be fine, but I think you'd better use your Scout Phone. It's untraceable," Artie said.

"That's probably a good idea, we don't want reporters swarming all over here," Bonnie said.

"Yeah, reporters can be really annoying sometimes. It seems like most of them have no understanding of urgency or discretion," Christina said thoughtfully, remembering just how annoying reporters had gotten when she was V. She sighed at the memory, then pulled out her phone. "Back in a minute!" she said, before going upstairs.

"Hey, Artemis, I've been wondering. Any idea why we haven't gotten our memories of the Silver Millennium back yet?" Bonnie asked. Artie frowned.

"I'm not sure, actually. Maybe you'll have to wait until Princess Serenity awakens before you remember," he said slowly. The others frowned too, wondering if Artie was right. They were still standing around pondering that thought when Christina walked back into the room.

"Hey, what's with all the long faces? It's Christmas Eve, guys!" Christina grinned.

"How'd it go? What's happening with Wilson Baxter?" Artie asked.

"He suggested that we meet him at the Warrnambool Entertainment Centre tomorrow to discuss details and stuff. I couldn't see a problem with that, so I told him we'd be there around 11o'clock tomorrow morning unless we get held up by a Youma," Christina said.

"We don't even get a break for Christmas?" Dee asked.

"Somehow I doubt that the Negaverse is gonna take a break for Christmas," Christina said wryly.

"If anything, they'll be more active. All the excitement and energy is gonna be awfully attractive to them," Artemis frowned.

"I also called Skye and asked her to get a box out for when I'll be visiting tomorrow. It's the one I gave her when I was... well, I may as well be honest about it. I was evil," Christina said, before giving a small shudder. Artie put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a supportive smile. Christina took a deep breath before continuing. "That box has the Red Crystal in it. I figured we'd need to have as many of the crystals as possible in the one place for when the Princess awakens."

"Good idea. We'll be able to add the Red Crystal to the other two that we have," Artie smiled.

"Yeah. I'm just glad that something good came out of the past few days," Christina said.

"Well, we should really get to bed. I'm willing to bet that we'll be extremely busy tomorrow," Luna said.

"Yeah. We'll have to get up early if we're opening presents _and_ stopping Youma," Bonnie said. The others nodded and finished adding decorations to the tree, then went upstairs to bed.

* * *

Early the next morning, Luna, Artemis and Christina were woken abruptly by a joyful shriek.

"It's Christmas, guys! Time to wake up!" Steph shouted. Christina groaned and sleepily lifted her head to look at the clock.

"Come on, Stephy, it's 4 o'clock in the morning," she moaned, rolling over and snuggling back under the blankets.

"But it's Christmas, Chrissy! Come on, let's go open our presents!" Steph grinned, shaking her cousin. Just then, the door burst open, and Bonnie rushed into the room, grinning.

"Yay! Presents!" she shouted. Christina groaned and threw her pillow over her head.

"Presents! Presents! Presents!" Steph and Bonnie began chanting, bouncing around the room with excitement.

"Girls, really, I think you're getting just a little over excited here," Luna said sternly. Steph simply grabbed Luna up off the bed and began whirling her around the room, with Bonnie doing the same to Artemis. Suddenly the room was filled with the opening notes of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", and the five of them looked around to find Dee standing in the doorway with a big grin on her face, a CD player in her hand. Luna and Artemis wriggled out of Steph and Bonnie's arms and jumped up on top of a cupboard, shaking their heads defeatedly.

"Wakey wakey, Chrissy! It's Christmas!" Bonnie shouted.

"I am aware of that. Are you aware that everyone else in town is still asleep?" Christina asked, her voice muffled by her pillow.

"Fine then, I guess you don't want your presents," Steph said. Christina sat up abruptly, alarmed.

"You wouldn't really take my presents, would you, Stephy?" she asked. Steph grinned and pulled the blankets off of Christina, who picked up her pillow and threw it at her cousin. Within seconds, the four of them were giggling madly in the midst of a pillow fight. The fight ended when one of the pillows burst open and showered them in feathers, and they fell onto the bed in a giggly, grinning pile.

"I wonder if Nixx is awake yet," Dee said thoughtfully.

"Let's go see!" Bonnie said, jumping up. The others got up too and went into the room where Phoenix was still fast asleep, unaware of the excitement in the other room. That didn't last long, however, as the other four jumped onto the bed, chanting "Presents! Presents! Presents!"

"What are you doing, guys?" Phoenix asked sleepily.

"It's Christmas, Nixx! Come on, let's go open our presents!" Christina said.

"First you'd better have breakfast and get dressed, girls. There may be a youma attack early today, considering how much energy and excitement is in the air," Luna said as she and Artemis appeared behind the others.

"We'd better hurry, then, so we can open our presents!" Bonnie said. The other four nodded and went to get ready.

"What are we going to have for breakfast, you guys?" Bonnie asked.

"How about if I make pancakes?" Steph suggested.

"Ooh, yeah, your pancakes are really good!" Christina agreed.

"Why don't you four get out things to put on the pancakes while Steph makes them?" Luna suggested.

"I can do that," Christina said, going to the cupboard and opening it. "Let's see... we've got sugar, jam, honey... oh, but we're almost out of maple syrup! I guess I'd better go get some more, then," she said, closing the cupboard and picking up her bag. "Back in a minute!" she said, before heading out the front door.

"You know, there's probably enough maple syrup in that bottle for our pancakes... Do you think she's trying to make up for the way she's been acting lately?" Bonnie asked.

"Perhaps... just let her be, though. She probably still feels a little guilty, even though she has apologised," Artemis said slowly.

* * *

"Now, where's that maple syrup? It's usually around here somewhere..." Christina murmured to herself, looking at the supermarket shelves. "Oh, there it is. Lucky me, I get the last bottle!" she pulled the bottle of maple syrup off the shelf, spotting a familiar figure in the next aisle._ Well, this came a little sooner than I expected, _Christina thought, as she made her way towards the end of the aisle she was in to get to the adjacent one._ Guess it's now or never, though..._

"Hi Riley," she said, turning the corner and almost running into him.

"Hi," he said warily.

"Look, Riley, I... I want to apologise for the way I've been acting lately. I had a lot of worries, and I guess I just handled them in completely the wrong way. I'm sorry," Christina said quietly.

"That's OK, I thought you must have had something serious on your mind, you seemed so different from when you were at those parties."

"Yeah..."

"Well, I've got to keep moving, but I'll probably see you sometime later today, knowing Zoisite."

"Yeah, you're probably right there. Hey, are you doing anything for lunch today?"

"Nothing in particular, why?"

"Would you like to come have Christmas lunch with the rest of us?"

"Sure, why not."

"Great! So we'll see you at around 10 o'clock?"

"Sounds good. See you then!"

"Bye!" Christina called, waving. _Well, that went better than I expected,_ she thought as she took the bottle of maple syrup to the checkout.

* * *

"Are we all ready? Can we open our presents now?" Dee asked, walking into the lounge room where Steph, Bonnie, Phoenix, Luna and Artemis were sitting, the three girls getting rather impatient.

"Not quite yet, Chrissy's still eating her breakfast," Steph said.

"She's really taking her time, isn't she," Bonnie agreed. Just then, Christina bounced excitedly into the room, a big grin on her face.

"Geez, can you eat any slower, Chrissy?" Steph asked.

"Yeah, I probably could, actually. Want me to try?" Christina asked, turning around and pretending as though she was about to leave.

"No!" the other four chorused. Christina grinned and sat down on the couch, then looked around at the others.

"OK, which presents are we going to open first?" Dee asked. Her question was answered by a loud beep from the cupboard, and all five girls groaned.

"Great. There's a youma out already? It's only 7:00!" Dee moaned, watching as Luna went to the cupboard and disappeared inside.

"I guess that means the presents will have to wait until later," Phoenix said. Another groan echoed around the room.

"The youma's in the Botanic Gardens," Luna said, poking her head out of the cupboard.

"Let's get going, then!" Artemis said, jumping off the couch and changing into his human form. Luna closed the cupboard and changed forms too.

"I'll be with you in a second, guys, I'll just grab Lucky and bring him along. We may end up needing his help," Christina said, getting up and running to the laundry room to get Lucky's harness and leash.

"We'd better head off. She'll be right behind us. We'll call the others on the way there," Artie said, throwing open the front door. The six of them ran down the road, Christina leaping the fence with Lucky in her arms seconds later.

* * *

"That's it? That's the youma all fourteen of us came here to fight? It's tiny!" Christina said, staring at a small cat-shaped youma whose fur looked remarkably similar to silver tinsel.

"Looks can be deceiving, Christina. This thing could have some hidden ability we don't know about," Artie said. The group watched as the tinsel cat climbed up a tree, ripped off a branch and ate it.

"Well, that thing certainly likes its vegies," Alex said, watching as the cat ate another branch.

"Calm down, Lucky!" Christina said, stuggling to hold onto the writhing, growling dog. She took hold of his lead and put him down, then was almost pulled off her feet as Lucky shot across the grass, barking madly. "Lucky!" Christina scolded, her eyes widening a second later as Lucky's leash and harness vanished and he sprouted a pair of orange dragon wings. Artie leapt forward and grabbed Christina's arm.

"He's transforming! He probably can't control his youma form yet," he said, dragging Christina back away from Lucky, who was surrounded by a ray of orange energy a second later. When it faded, Anaranjado roared at the tinsel cat, which finished eating the branch it had in its mouth and then leapt down from the tree, it's dark-red eyes flashing. As everyone watched, the tinsel cat slowly grew to the size of a bus. Several people sitting in the gardens ran, screaming.

"It's go time, guys!" Steph said, touching her locket. Bonnie, Dee, Phoenix and Christina all pulled out their Transformation Pens, and the other six Crystal Carriers closed their eyes, preparing to transform. The park was lit up in a rainbow of colour, then the five scouts posed and the dragons growled.

"Lucky! Stop it!" Venus ordered. Anaranjado ignored her, breathing a jet of orange flame at the cat, which didn't move as the flames swept over it. When the flames died down, the group could see that the ends of the tinsel were singed, but the tinsel cat was otherwise unharmed.

"Great. Scouts, I suggest we step back and let the others try attacking at the same time," Artie said. The scouts nodded and stepped back, while the other six Crystal Carriers stepped forward and breathed flames on the tinsel cat. Anaranjado looked confused for a second, before adding his own orange flames to the fray. The tinsel cat yowled as the flames engulfed it, catching it alight. It then began running around, trying to extinguish the flames, slowly shrinking as it ran. Eventually it skidded to a stop, the tinsel smoking. The angry cat ran over to a nearby tree and climbed up it.

"It's back to the size it was when we got here!" Sailor Moon said.

"But it won't be for long! It's about to eat more branches!" Mercury said, concerned.

"We'd better put a stop to that, then! It's our turn, girls!" Sailor Moon yelled. "Moon Twilight Flash!"

"Shine Aqua Illusion!"

"Mars Fire Ignite!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" The five attacks flew through the air and into the youma's mouth, which was wide open and about to eat more branches. The tinsel cat's eyes widened for a second, then it exploded into dust.

Everyone except Anaranjado sighed with relief; Anarajado roared at the spot where the tinsel cat had been.

"Lucky? What's the matter, boy? It's gone, you can calm down now," Venus said, looking up at Anaranjado. The orange dragon flapped his wings and took to the sky, roaring and breathing orange flames above him. "He's still mad, guys, we need to find a way to calm him down!" Venus said worriedly.

"Luna, I think we can help with that," Artie said, before changing back into his cat form. Lucy did the same, and then the two of them stood side by side and backflipped, the trail of silver sparks creating a huge orange band with a large silver clip on each end and large silver spikes around it.

"How is this going to help?" Venus asked.

"This collar won't be this big after the first time we put it on him. It has special magic in it that will help Lucky to control his power. Also, this spike here is special. We can call it with our phones, and it will tell Lucky that we need his help and where to find us," Artemis said, pointing to the spike closest to the buckle.

"Duck!" Jupiter yelled, noticing Anaranjado swooping towards them. The humans and the cats threw themselves down on the ground to avoid a large jet of flame, while the dragons took to the sky as well.

"Guys, can you get him down here and hold him still while we get this collar on him?" Sailor Moon yelled up at the dragons, who roared and then tackled Anaranjado, the seven of them plummeting to the ground. Once the smoke cleared, the others could see the seven dragon wrestling, six of them fighting hard to get Anaranjado pinned to the ground. In a split second moment, Anaranjado broke free and took off again.

"You all need to grab hold of one of his legs! Make sure you grab his wings too, so he can't try and fly away!" Artemis called. The other six circled around the hovering orange dragon, then flew at Anaranjado again, each grabbing onto a different limb. With a loud thud and more smoke, the seven came crashing to the ground once again, but this time Anaranjado was pinned down.

"Calm down, Lucky, it'll be OK," Venus said, focusing. A second later, a large silver-and-orange muzzle had appeared over Anaranjado's head, rendering his fiery breath useless.

"Now, let's get the collar on him, guys!" Artemis said as he and Luna changed forms again. The seven of them lifted the heavy collar and carried it over to where Anarajado was fighting to escape the grip of the other six. Venus let go of her part of the collar and focused her powers, forcing Anaranjado's head and neck to stay still.

"OK, get that thing on him guys, quick! I don't know how long I can hold him still!" Venus yelled, gritting her teeth with the effort. The other Scouts quickly put the collar down under Anaranjado's neck and threw one end over, then grabbed the two ends and brought them together. Crackling orange energy burst out of the two clips and brought them together, Anaranjado calming down the instant they clicked together. The other Crystal Carriers cautiously let go, nodding in satisfaction as the air around Anaranjado was filled with orange sparkles.

"Well, that's that. Let's get home and open our presents!" Mars said, watching as the air around the other Crystal Carriers was filled with sparkles in their respective colour.

"Yeah, we'd better be getting home too. I bet our parents will we worried," Amy said, the yellow sparkles around her fading.

" Well, hopefully we don't need to call you guys out again today," Sailor Moon said.

"Oh, Cuz? I almost forgot, I brought this with me, I figured that'd make more sense than waiting until you came to visit later," Skye said, pulling the orange box out of her bag and holding it out to Sailor Venus.

"Thanks, Cuz! I reckon we're gonna need this later on today," Venus said, slipping it into her pocket.

"How does that even fit into your pocket, Christina?" Mars asked.

"We have a special pocket in our skirts, Dee, they can hold loads of things," Venus said.

"Yeah, those are your subspace pockets. You each have one, but you can fit as many things into it as you like. With a bit of practice, you can access your subspace pocket in your civilian form as well," Artie said.

"It's a pity we don't have them, they'd be really useful," Jess said.

"Well, how about something else useful instead?" Artie said, changing forms again and doing six backflips, the silver sparks creating silver phones with a picture of a different Rainbow Crystal on each. The Crystal Carriers smiled and picked up their respective phones.

"Those phones are untraceable just like the Scouts' phones, so we can get in contact much easier if we see any more youma," Artemis said.

"Wow, it's 8:30 already! Where did that time go? We'd better get home before our parents really start to worry," Ethan said.

"You're right. See you later guys! Oh, and Merry Christmas!" Sailor Moon called. The six human Crystal Carriers waved and left, while Lucky leapt at Venus excitedly, wagging his tail.

"Hey, Lucky. You're a good boy. You just need to learn a little self control," Venus smiled, taking Lucky into her arms and hugging him.

"Well, that collar should help him to do that," Artemis said, adjusting the orange collar, which was now much smaller and had a buckle instead of clips.

"Let's get home, you guys. We've been up for four and a half hours already and we _still_ haven't opened any of our presents!" Sailor Moon said.

"Yeah, what's the point of getting up early to open presents on Christmas Day if you can't actually _open_ your presents when you wake up?" Mars added.

"What are we standing around chatting for, then? Let's go!" Jupiter said, smiling. The others nodded and smiled, then they all headed for Christina's house.

* * *

"OK! Let's get into these presents before anything else can distract us," Phoenix said, sitting down on the couch with the others. Artie went to the tree and carefully picked out one present for everyone in the lounge room, then froze.

"Do you guys sense that?" he asked.

"I thought I felt something. It's another youma, isn't it," Lucy said.

"Darn it! We're never going to get to open our presents at this rate!" Christina cried.

"We'd better go check it out," Bonnie said, taking out her Transformation Pen. The others nodded and thrust their transformation items into the air.

"Moon Prism Power!"

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!"

"Venus Power!" an instant later, the Scouts and their guardians were running down the street, looking left and right for the source of the negative energy that was making their senses tingle.

"Look! Over there! It's another tinsel cat!" Mercury said, pointing at a small silver cat laying in a garden beside the road. The tinsel cat opened its sapphire-blue eyes and hissed at the Scouts, who went into battle poses.

"Let's take it down before it can eat any trees!" Jupiter cried.

"Yeah, then we'd need to call in the Crystal Carriers to help us," Mars said.

"Let's get it, girls! Moon Tiara..."

"Shine Aqua..."

"Akuryo..."

"Flower...  
"Venus Crescent Beam..."

"Magic!" "Illusion!" "Taisan!" "Hurricane!" "Smash!" the five attacks merged and flew through the air at the tinsel cat, which leapt easily out of the way and hissed at them. Sailor Moon focused her powers on the tinsel cat, which suddenly found itself immobilised. She then focused on the tiara, sending it spinning back around and into the tinsel cat, which yowled as the tiara went through it. After a few seconds of yowling, the tinsel cat exploded into dust.

"Nice work, Stephy! I could tell that that was you making that last bit happen," Venus smiled.

"Thanks! It wasn't hard. Luckily that youma was small _and_ stupid," Sailor Moon smiled. "Now let's get home and open our presents!"

"Girls, I think we need to go home and prepare Christmas lunch. It's almost 9:30, and you girls have to meet up with Wilson Baxter later," Artemis said.

"Gee, at this rate we won't get our Christmas presents until tomorrow!" Mars said.

* * *

"OK, so... how many people am I making Christmas lunch for? There's us five plus Luna and Artemis... so that's seven," Steph said, pulling out plates and passing them to Artie.

"Actually, Stephy, it's eight. I invited a guest for lunch, and he should be here any minute now," Christina said.

" 'He'? Ooh, what's this, Chrissy?" Steph smiled teasingly. Just then the doorbell rang, and Christina hurried to answer it, returning with Riley behind her. Steph blinked a few times, then went purple.

"Chrissy? Can I talk to you for a sec?" She asked, grabbing her cousin's arm and dragging her into another room. "Why did you invite him over here?"

"Why? Do you have a problem with him being here?"

"Yes! I'm not going to cook for him!"

"That's not fair, Stephy, He's our guest." Steph scowled.

"Fine, but I'm not giving him any of the nice pieces."

"That's OK, we usually serve ourselves," Christina said. Steph scowled again, then went back into the kitchen. Christina followed a few seconds later and sat down on the couch with the others, who were chatting away. Christina caught a few words of the conversation that Bonnie and Dee were having.

"...don't see why we can't open our presents at separate times."

"That wouldn't be fair, Dee. And besides, this _is_ Chrissy's house."

"Yeah, I know, but I wish we didn't have to fight youma today."

"...Yeah, it does sort of ruin the spirit of the day, doesn't it..." Christina got up to go and get herself a drink, noticing the tree reflected in a glass cabinet. Smiling a little at the figure reflected beside the tree, she turned to see Riley sneaking a small present among the branches. Riley looked up and noticed Christina watching him, then put his finger to his lips for a second then sat back down.

"Would anyone like a drink?" Christina asked, opening the fridge. Seven voices replied "Yes", so Christina pulled eight cans of lemonade out and passed them around. For a few moments, everyone was sipping their drinks silently. After a few moments, Artie looked up to see that the clock now read 10:45.

"Wow, that went fast. Girls, you'd better get going," he said.

"Oh, yeah! We've got that meeting in under 15 minutes! Do you think we'll make it in time?" Dee asked.

"If we hurry, we will. Come on, let's go," Christina said.

"I'll catch up with you, girls, lunch is almost ready. I'll just finish up first," Steph said. The other four girls nodded and left, leaving Lucy and Artie sitting on the couch, watching Steph and Riley curiously.

"I hope these two don't end up arguing again," Lucy whispered.

* * *

"Hello? Mr Baxter? We're here to talk about that show you want to create," Venus called, looking around the lobby of the Warrnambool Entertainment Centre.

"Do you think he maybe forgot?" Mars asked.

"I doubt it. Besides, we're celebrities, who wouldn't want to meet us?" Mercury grinned.

"Maybe they're already inside," Jupiter suggested, pointing at a door into the seating area.

"Let's go check it out," Venus said, leading the others to the door and throwing it open to find Wilson Baxter and a tall woman wearing glasses standing on the stage.

"Ah! Girls. You're right on time. This is my assistant, Georgia," Wilson said.

"Nice to meet you. So what do you need to know about us for your show?" Venus asked.

"Oh, absolutely nothing, girls. The show starts now," Wilson said, smiling. He clicked his fingers and the doors swung shut, the lights going out as well.

* * *

Steph frowned as she worked in the kitchen, trying to ignore the guest in the house. She jumped a little in surprise as her phone rang, then pulled it out of her pocket.

"Hello?"

"Stephy! We need..." the earpiece filled with static for a few moments, before clearing up again.

"Chrissy? Are you alright?" Steph asked, concerned.

"Wilson Baxter ... all an act! We … right now!" Venus' voice cut in and out as the earpiece filled with static again and again.

"Chrissy? I'll be right over. Chrissy? _Chrissy?_" Steph took the phone away from her ear and pressed a button. "It cut out," she told Lucy and Artie, who both looked alarmed.

"We'd better be going after them," Lucy said, getting to her feet. Artie nodded and ducked into the nearby cupboard, emerging a few seconds later with a velvet bag, which he pulled the string tight on and threw around his neck.

"You're right, Lucy. As much as I hate to say it, Riley, you're in charge of finishing up our lunch. Just cover it up or something until we get back, OK?" Steph said, before she, Lucy and Artie ran out the door. Riley stared at the door for a few moments, frowning. _Something serious must be going on, _he thought._ I'd better go too._ He turned the oven down a little, then ran out the door after the others.

* * *

Sailor Moon, Lucy and Artie climbed nervously up the steps out the front of the WEC, half-expecting some trap had been set. They were so busy looking around for traps that they didn't notice Riley peering around a corner watching them. As he watched, the front doors slid open to allow the three inside. After watching the doors close again, he quietly opened the door to the Green Room and snuck inside.

"Chrissy? Bonnie? Guys? Where is everyone?" Sailor Moon called, looking around the lobby of the WEC. As if in answer to her question, the door to the seating area swung open, allowing them into the darkness beyond.

"Hello?" Sailor Moon called, squinting into the darkness. With a squeak, the doors swung shut behind them, startling them. A second later, a spotlight turned on, illuminating the tall grinning figures of Wilson Baxter and his assistant in the middle of the stage.

"Hello there, Princess," he said.

"What are you talking about? I'm not the Princess! And how do you know about the Princess anyway?" Sailor Moon asked, looking bewildered.

"You can't hide your identity from me, Princess. We finally figured you out. You set Venus as a decoy to throw us off while you collected Rainbow Crystals," Wilson said, glaring at Sailor Moon.

"You're nuts, buddy. I'm not the Princess, and I had no idea that Venus was pretending to be the Princess. We believed her too," Sailor Moon said.

"How do you know all this, anyway?" Lucy asked. Wilson's grin broadened as the air filled with black rose petals, changing him and his assistant into their true identities, Kunzite and Zoisite.

"You! I should've known you were behind all this. What do you want from us?"Artie demanded.

"It's quite simple, actually. Your Rainbow Crystals and your Princess," Kunzite said.

"We'll never let you have either!" Lucy yelled.

"Oh, but I have bargaining chips, you see," Kunzite said, clicking his fingers. Another spotlight switched on, illuminating the chandelier furthest from the stage. Long black tendrils were wound around the chandelier, holding it to the ceiling, while more snaked down through the centre and suspended the other four Scouts by their wrists. Flying around the tendrils were the four Scouts' elements, and the others at the foot of the stairs could see that they were doing their best to break free of the hold, with little success.

"Guys! Oh, no!" Sailor Moon cried, running up the steps. Halfway up, Sailor Moon collided with an invisible barrier and fell backwards onto the steps.

"Steph! Be careful!" the Scouts called, worried.

"Let my friends go, you creep! We'll never give you the Crystals or the Princess, even if we did know who she is!" Sailor Moon yelled, whirling around.

"Silly Princess, you still don't realise it? It makes no sense for Sailor _Venus_ to be the Moon Princess. It makes far more sense for you, Sailor _Moon_, to be the Moon Princess," Kunzite leered.

"And it's time to finish you once and for all! ZOI!" Zoisite yelled, holding out her hand. A wave of dark energy flew across the room, knocking Sailor Moon backwards into the barrier.

"Sailor Moon!" the Scouts cried, straining to get out of their bonds. Sailor Moon staggered to her feet and ran back down the stairs angrily.

"Let my friends go right now, Kunzite!" Sailor Moon yelled, taking off her tiara and changing it into a sword.

"You want to fight, Princess? I'd be honoured," Zoisite said, conjuring a Dark Sword.

"Bring it on, jerk," Sailor Moon hissed, jumping up onto the stage. Kunzite stepped back into the wings of the stage to give the fighters room, not noticing Riley hidden in a different section of the wings. Riley pulled out his silver-and-red rose and transformed with a flash, knowing he would probably need to help.

"Bring it on, Princess," Zoisite hissed.

"I'm not the Princess, Zoisite, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to fight you," Sailor Moon said quietly. A second later, the two swords were crashing together furiously again and again, the room filling with smoke. When the smoke cleared, the group could see Sailor Moon and Zoisite millimetres away from each other, their swords pressed firmly together.

"Time to finish this! Moon Twilight Flash!" Sailor Moon yelled, her sword glowing and expelling it's usual silver-and-pink glowing orbs, which threw Zoisite backwards onto the floor. Zoisite sat up, seething.

"You may be strong, Princess, but I'll still defeat you. ZOI!" Zoisite yelled, releasing a huge wave of dark energy at Sailor Moon, who closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact. Instead, she sensed the wave make contact with someone directly in front of her, and opened her eyes to see Tuxedo Mask standing there, staring at her.

"Tudexo Mask!" Sailor Moon cried, watching as Tuxedo Mask collapsed, unconscious. As he fell, his mask was knocked askew, and Sailor Moon gasped in surprise as she gently removed it. _Riley?_ He's _Tuxedo Mask?_

"Riley! Wake up, are you OK?" Sailor Moon asked, shaking Riley's shoulders gently. At the back of the room, three of the other four Scouts look surprised at finding out Tuxedo Mask's civilian identity. The only one not surprised was Venus, and she was glaring up at their bonds angrily.

"Right, that's it. I'm busting us outta this right now!"

"Your beam won't work, Chrissy! You already tried that, remember?" Mercury said. Venus grinned and pointed straight up at the dark tendrils.

"Trust me, Mercs, I know what I'm doing. Venus Meteor Shower!" she yelled, the usual beam shooting out of her finger, this time splitting into seven beams that sliced through the tendrils holding the four scouts to the chandelier, sending them sprawling to the floor.

"Nice one, how'd you do that?" Mercury asked.

"I remembered using it once in the Silver Millennium, and was saving it for an emergency. Now let's get out of here," Venus said, pointing at the barrier. "Venus Meteor Shower!" this time, the beams bounced off of the barrier and around the room, forcing the four Scouts to throw themselves to the floor. The beams died down after a few seconds, and Venus looked up cautiously.

"Well, I won't be trying that again," she said.

"How are we going to get out of here? We need to help Steph and Riley!" Mercury said. Just then, Sailor Moon began to glow, filling the room with white light. The Rainbow Crystals reacted to the light, with the two in Zoisite's pocket flying out and over to Sailor Moon, joined quickly by the two from Riley's pocket and the two in the bag around Artie's neck. The orange box containing the Red Crystal flew out of Venus' subspace pocket and began ramming against the barrier over and over. Venus carefully took the box into her arms and unclipped it, the Red Crystal bursting out and smashing through the barrier a split-second later.

"Let's get down there, girls!" Mercury yelled, focusing her powers. As the four Scouts watched, a large icy slide spread from their feet down the rows of seats to the stage, where the seven Rainbow Crystals were circling around Sailor Moon.

"The Crystals... They're reacting to me," Sailor Moon whispered. "Am I really the Princess?" As if in answer to her question, the seven Rainbow Crystals gave off a wave of rainbow-coloured energy, throwing Kunzite and Zoisite back into the wings of the stage, where they staggered to their feet and left, the power of the light causing them pain.

"Artemis, what's happening?" Lucy asked, wide-eyed.

"Our Princess has finally realised her true destiny," Artie replied, smiling. Just as the four Scouts leapt onto the slide and began riding it to the bottom, the Rainbow Crystals, which had been circling around Sailor Moon's head in smaller and smaller circles, finally merged with a bright flash of silver, which transformed Sailor Moon's Scout outfit into a floor-length white dress with gold around the neckline, and changed her hairstyle into a half ponytail with an intricate silver clip in it. The Crescent Moon Wand appeared in the air in front of her, and the Imperium Silver Crystal floated down onto it, releasing a wave of silver energy, which washed over the other four Scouts and changed their Scout uniform into beautiful dresses as well. The Scouts slid to a stop at the end of the slide and smiled at each other, before closing their eyes as more waves of energy washed over them, causing a small round crystal to appear in the air before each of them.

"They all have their Crystals!" Artie gasped.

"Riley... Wake up, I know you can hear me," Princess Serenity whispered. The waves of energy floating around the room suddenly changed direction, bouncing back at Riley and waking him.

"Princess Serenity... I knew I'd find you."

"This was why you were after the Crystals too, isn't it, Riley."

"Yeah... Somehow I just knew I had to find you."

"Why?"

"I'm not really sure, honestly. But... I think I understand better now why Zoisite kept calling me 'Master Endymion'. "

"Yeah? Why's that?"

"Don't you remember, Princess?"

"...They used to work for you, didn't they."

"Yeah..."

"They were your guardians, just like the four Scouts were my guardians," Serenity whispered, smiling up at the four Scouts, who were all smiling back at her with their brightly-coloured crystal between their hands.

"Stephy, now do you see why I couldn't tell you who the Princess was? You had to remember that for yourself for you to awaken your Scout Powers," Aphrodite said.

"Yeah, I understand now, Chrissy..." Serenity said quietly.

"I think... I remember us..." Jupiter's Princess form, Hera, said.

"Me too, although it's not a lot," Mars' Princess form, Hestia, agreed.

"It's a start, at least," Mercury's Princess form, Athena, smiled.

"You guys are on your way to remembering," Aphrodite smiled.

"Let's get outta here, you guys. We still haven't opened our Christmas Presents yet, although I don't know how we could beat the ones we got here," Serenity said, holding up the Crescent Moon wand, which gave off a bright flash of silver light, changing all the girls back into their civilian forms. The four coloured Scout Crystals flashed once in response to the light of the Silver Crystal, then floated down into their owner's hands. The girls smiled at one another and slipped their Crystals into their pockets.

"Let's go home, guys. It's been an exhausting day all over, and it's only lunchtime," Christina said.

"Oh yeah! What happened to our lunch, Riley? Is it done?" Steph asked.

"I'm not sure. I figured out pretty quickly why you were leaving in such a hurry, so I turned the heat down and followed you here," Riley said.

"Oh, no! Our lunch is gonna burn!" Steph cried, before breaking into a run. After sprinting the few blocks back to Christina's house the group burst though the front door to find the kitchen filling with smoke from the oven. Quickly turning the oven off and opening all the windows, Steph put on some oven mitts and pulled the chicken out of the oven to find it burnt to a crisp.

"I knew I shouldn't have left you in charge of lunch, Riley! No offence, but you're a terrible cook," Steph said.

"Well if you knew, then why did you let him?" Christina asked, grinning.

"I guess I was in such a hurry I forgot."

"Ditz!" The other four girls cried, before all eight of them burst out laughing.


End file.
